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A^A 


1  f  ij  i]jY 

r 

s 

AU  THE  POWER  YOU  COULD  WISH  FOR! 

HI-RES  WINDOWS! 

EVERYTHING  YOU  NEED 
TO  KNOW  ABOUT  r 
DISPLAY  S1ANDARDS 


TOP  SHAREWARE! 

SUPER  SOFTWARE 
FOR  PENNIES 


'SSt-i-Ow 


ENCAfim    _^ 
GREAT  GAMESfOR  KIDS 
SKTOP  FORGERY 


..t86"02193' 


4^  ..^ 


beckons  you,  laughing. 


In  her  mad  quest  for  power,  Scotia  has  ravaged  the 
kingdom.    She  seeks  the  throne,  yet  it  eludes  her. 


She's  getting  desperate.    She's  getting  mean. 


■     Can  YOU  STOP  HER?  DO  YOU  DARE? 


M'^^^^ 


^*  Ulake  Frieniki  and  Influence 

People -Coopcratt'  with  the  helpful, 
sidestep  the  treacherous  and  destroy 


the  dangerous. 


^A-  Quick  and  Ea«i;^'  Combat  and 
Spell  Casting. 


FEATURING 

^*-  Compaq  and  Airtomapper 

Included  -  Adventure  through 
ancient  keeps  and  living  forests. 
Unearth  hidden  ruins  and 
haunted  caves. 

^^  Indulge  in  a  Land  of  Sensory 

Delists-  Over  20  megabytes  of 
compressed  art  and  special 
effects.  Actually  hear  the  clash  of 
steel!  Feel  the  blows  of  terrors 
who  slip  beneath  your  guard  ! 


AN  INSPIRED  FANTASY 

RPG  EXPERIENCE  FROM 

THE  DEVELOPMENT 

TEAM  THAT  CREATED 

EYE  OF  THE  BEHOLDER™  I  AND  11. 

Westwood' 


DismbiJie4E;icUisively  by 


Available  for  your  IBM  PC. 


Eye  of  tlie  Beholder  I  iind  II  are  trademitrks  of  TSR,  Lac 

The  Eye  of  the  feeholder  gariies.TSR.  Inc.  and  SSI  are  not  connected  or  related 


in  any  way  to  the  La^id-S  of  Lore  game,  Vii'gin  Games,  inc.  or  Westwood  Studios,  Inc. 
Lands  of  Lore  is  a  titidemark  of  Westwixxi  Studios.  Inc.  ©  1993  Westwood  Studios,  Inc 
.411  rights  resci'ved.  Virginis  anegistered  tradeinark- of  Virgin  Enterprises.  Ltd. 


Circle  Reader  Service  Nuinber  132 


CDfUIPUTE 


VOLUME  15,  NO.  9,  ISSUE  156 


SEPTEMBER  1993 


FEATURES 

6 
SEEING  IS  BELIEVING 

By  William  Harrel 

Here's  what  you  should 

know  about  your  computer's 

display  system. 

18 

TEST  LAB 

Edited  by  Mike  Hudnall 

We  check  out  ten 

of  the  hottest 

486  notebooks  going, 

58 

GREAT  SHAREWARE 

By  Philip  Chien 
How  to  save  money  by 

tapping  into  this 
nearly  unlimited  source. 

66 

PRODUCTIVITY  CHOICE 

By  Mark  Minasi 
MS-DOS  6  from  Microsoft. 

COLUMNS 

4 
EDITORIAL  LICENSE 

By  Clifton  Karnes 
PC  Expo  in  New  York. 

38 
NEWS  &  NOTES 

By  Jill  Champion 
Top  computer  news. 

42 

FEEDBACK 

Answers  to  tough  questions. 

46 

WINDOWS  WORKSHOP 

By  Clifton  Karnes 
Stacker  versus 
DoubleSpace. 

48 

TIPS  &  TOOLS 

Edited  by 

Richard  C.  Leinecker 

Tips  from  our  readers. 

50 

INTRODOS 

By  Tony  Roberts 

DOS  6  adds  two  essential 

disk  commands. 


Cover  photo  by  Mark  Wagoner 


54 

HARDWARE  CLINIC 

By  Mark  Minasi 

More  on  DOS  6's 

MultJConfig. 

56 

PROGRAMMING  POWER 

By  Tom  Campbell 
Paradox  for  Windows. 

68 

PERSONAL  PRODUCTIVITY 

By  Rosalind  B.  Resnick 
Highlights  from  COMDEX. 

70 

MULTIMEDIA  PC 

By  David  English 

New  voice  control  programs 

for  the  PC. 


72 

ART  WORKS 

By  Robert  Bixby 

Major  upgrades  of 

WordPerfect  and 

CorelDRAW!. 

120 

COMDEX/CES  REPORT 

By  Robert  Bixby 

Computing  was  hot 

in  Atlanta  and  even  hotter 

in  Chicago. 

ENTERTAINMEN1 
74 

DISCOVERY  CHOICE 

By  Stephen  Levy 
Encarta  from  Microsoft. 


76 

GAME  INSIDER 

By  Shay  Addams 

More  adventures 

and  power  simulations. 

80 

ENTERTAINMENT  CHOICE 

By  Scott  A.  May 

Front  Page  Sports:  Football 

from  Dynamix. 

82 

GAMEPLAY 

By  Paul  C.  Schuytema 

Controversy  causes 

educational  role-playing 

game  to  be  pulled. 

85 

PUSHING  FUN  TO  THE  LIMIT 

By  Carol  Ellison 

Muitimedia  and  computing 

power  make  the  difference  in 

new  programs  aimed  at 

kids. 

REVIEWS 

89 

Gateway  2000  Nomad 

450DXL  Notebook, 

Cricket  Paint  for  Windows, 

Compaq  Prolinea  4/50, 

DeskJet  550C, 

Creepers, 

PentaCalc, 

Texel  DM-5024 

External  CD-ROM  Kit, 

Eric  the  Unready, 

Kid  Desk, 

Instant  Rolodex, 

ThrustMaster  Rudder 

Control  System, 

AV-SB  Harrier  Assauit, 

Air  Bucks  Version  1.2, 

Dynodex  for  Windows. 

BestBooks, 

Primera, 

NEC  Ready  425, 

QuickComm  Spirit  II, 

and  Virtual  Pilot. 

ADVERTISERS  INDEX 

See  page  97. 


COMPUTE  (ISSN  0194-357X)  is  putjlsstieci  monthly  in  me  United  Siatss  and  Canada  by  COMPUTE  Publications  Iniernalional  Lid.,  1965  Broadway.  New  Vork.  NY  10023-5965.  Vblume  i5. 
Number  9,  Issue  156-  Copyright  ®  1993  t>i  COMPUTE  Publicaiions  Intenationat  Lid  All  fights  reserved.  COMPUTE  is  a  registered  Irademark  ot  COMPUTE  Publications  IniemaConai  Ltd 
Distributed  worldwide  (excepi  Australia  and  ihe  UK)  oy  Curiis  Circulation  Company.  PQ.  Box  9102,  Pennsauken,  NJ  08109  Distributed  in  Australia  by  The  Horwilz  Group.  RO.  Box  306, 
Cammeray  NSW  2062  Australia  and  in  the  UK  by  Norinern  and  Shell  Pic  .  RO,  Box381.  Millharbour,  London  E14  9TW.  Second-class  poslage  paid  a!  New  York.  NY.  and  al  additional  mailing 
offices-  POSTMASTEfi:  Send  address  Changes  to  COMPUTE  Magazine,  P.O.  Box  3245,  Harlan,  lA  51537-3Q41  Tel.  (BOO)  727-6937  Entire  conlents  copyrighted-  All  rghts  resen/ed 
Nothing  may  be  reproduced  In  whole  or  in  part  v^iihout  written  permission  from  the  publisher  Subscripiions:  US,  AFO  -  S19-94  one  year.  Canada  and  elsewhere  -£25  94  one  year  Single 
copies  S2-95  m  US  The  publisher  disclaims  all  responsibility  to  return  unsolicited  matter,  and  all  rights  in  portions  published  thereat  remain  the  sole  property  of  COMPUTE  Publir:ations 
International  Lid-  Letters  sent  lo  COMPUTE  or  its  editors  become  the  property  of  the  magazine  Edilorial  offices  are  located  at  32"!  W.  Wsndover  Ave.,  Ste.  200.  Greensboro  NC  27408 
Tel.  (919)275-9309. 

Printed  in  the  USA  by  R.  R.  Donnelley  &  Sons  Inc.  #fl126607415 


2        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


Not  just  a  new  Sound  Blasten 
A  new  16-bit  audio  standard. 


Introducing  the  Sound  Blaster"  16 
Digital  Audio  Platform.  A  new  concept 
in  sound  cards.  And  a  new  standard 
for  16-bit  PC  audio. 

You  WON'T  BELIEVE  YOUR  EARS. 

PC  audio  never  sounded  so  good- 
genuine  CD-quality  audio  with  fully 
12%  more  dynamic 
response  and  15% 
Hands-free        ^^    better  sigual-to- 
voiceamtwi  noise  ratio  than 

any  competing  16-bit  sound  board.  Plus 
sofavare  data  compression  diat  delivers 
16-bit  fidelit}'  while  maximizing  disk  storage  capacit}". 
But  there's  more.  Included  in  the  Sound  Blaster  16 
package  is  the  biggest  advancement  in  PC  conh-ol  since 
the  invention  of  the  mouse:  our  exclusive  VoiceAssist" 
software.  It's  a  sophisticated  speech  recognition  interface 
that  uses  a  32,000-command  library  to  control  Windows 
applications  hands-free! 

THE  Only  Sound  Card  that  Grows  With  you. 

Unlike  other  16-bit  cards,  Sound  Blaster  16  comes  with 
built-in  interfaces  for  CD-ROM,  MPU-401  MIDI  and 
mwwWMWWWU  j  oy stick  control .  And  tlie  unique 
modular,  scalable  architecture 
lets  you  add  more  ad\'anced 
features  and  technolo- 
gies as  you  need  them. 
Like  our  Ad\'anced 
Signal  Processing 
chip  that  delivers  4:1 
real-time  hardware 
data  compression 
while  reducing  CPU  time  up  to 
65%.  Or  professional-qualit^' 
sampled  wave  synthesis  miy  oui 


State<if-the-Ait  PC  Sound  -d.'ith 
l&bit  Codec  digfial  audio  diip. 

l&M  Data  Compies«or 

SUITS  disk  spaa  -tvUhoiit  toss 
ofsi^mil  ijiuilihi. 

Upgradable,  Modular  Platfonn 

makes  it  aisy  lo  add  iiew  !edi- 
mlogies  like  Advanced  Signal 
Processing  and  Wave  Biasler. 

ixmcmpsmm-Mihaii 

Sound  Blaster  applications, 
plus  cross  platfonn  support  for 
Wi»dcm3.1,DOSor05/2. 


ipgiade  to 
Adrnna'd  A""- 
H«/  Processing 
with  one  chip. 


ii\c  k:\:  :■■:;..-!  mdio standard: Indiidesprogmmimibkmixer, mkroplwne, 
VoiceAssist  speecit  recognition  sofhtme,  plus  more  timn  SiOOO  in  scifhmreapplicaticms. 


plug-in  Wave  Blaster'"  daughter  board. 

And-  ur\like  other  cards-the 
Sound  Blaster  16  is  100%  compatible  loith 
every  game  and  application  ever  written 
for  the  Sound  Blaster. . .  wliich  is  to  say 
virtually  every  game  and  application  a\'ailable  for  sound. 


in  1/  i!i:ii'Jitr}  Iniiird. 


Nobody  packs  in  more  Value  Than 
THE  Industry  LEADER. 

And  as  if  that  weren't  enough,  we'\'e  completed  the  package 
with  more  tlian  $1000  worth  of  leading  software- not  too 
shabby  considering  the  entire  package  retails  for  just  S249.* 

So  let's  face  it.  When  it  comes  to  audio  quality,  fea- 
tures, and  bottom-line  value,  we've  got  it  all  right  here.  With 
the  Sound  Blaster  16-the  new  16-bit  PC  audio  standard. 

For  more  information  about  Creative  Labs  products 
and  the  name  of  your  nearest  Sound  Blaster  Dealer, 
call  1-800-998-5227. 


souridl  CRE  \TIVE 


blaste:r 


CREATIVE     LABS 


:iifl"L|    ®  Copyright  1993  Creative  Technology  Lid.  5ound  Blaster,  VoiceAssisl,  Wave  Bkster  and  the  Sotmd  Blaster  and  Creative  Labs  logos  arc  trademarks  of  Creative  Technolog)^'  Ltd. 
MtuKCfT'   All  Other  trademarks  are  owned  by  their  rcspeotivo  companies.  Creative  Labs  1-408-428-6600. 
aSwml^  International  inquiries:  Creative  Technology  L(d.,  Singapore.  TEL  65-773*0233  FAX  6S-773-0353. 

Circle  RAad«f  Service  Number  125 


EDITORIAL  LICENSE 


Clifton  Karnes 


Each  June,  PC 

Expo  transforms 

New  York  into 

a  liigti-tech  Mecca. 


This  is  reatly  the  season  for 
computer  shows.  Last 
month  it  was  COMDEX  in 
Atlanta,  and  this  month 
it's  PC  Expo  in  New  York.  I 
thought  that  PC  Expo,  coming 
so  soon  after  COMDEX, 
would  be  just  a  repeat  of  that 
show,  but  it  wasn't.  Of 
course,  there  were  a  lot  of 
products  I'd  already  seen  at 
COMDEX,  but  there  were  lots 
of  new  ones,  and  some  of 
them  were  outstanding. 

One  of  the  neatest  prod- 
ucts I  saw  at  PC  Expo  was 
Tapestry,  from  Pixar.  This  Win- 
dows app  creates  stunning  vis- 


ual effects  with  fonts.  You 
can,  for  example,  make  a 
word  look  as  if  it's  construct- 
ed from  chrome,  wood,  or  al- 
most any  other  material.  Pixar 
also  produces  photographic- 
quality  textured  backgrounds 
and  special  add-in  font  ef- 
fects. This  program  is  a  deal 
at  $199. 

Teleconferencing  is  a  topic 
that's  been  batted  around  for 
years,  but  only  a  few  compa- 
nies have  done  anything  with 
it,  usually  using  ultraexpen- 
sive  dedicated  hardware.  Fu- 
ture Labs  has  a  new  twist  on 
teleconferencing  with  Talk- 
Show,  a  Windows  program 
that  lets  any  number  of  peo- 
ple, connected  by  modem  or 
LAN,  annotate  a  document  in 
realtime  so  everyone  sees 
everyone  else's  marks  and 
comments.  The  idea)  situation 
is  for  this  visual  conference  to 
be  accompanied  by  a  tele- 

4        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


phone  conference  call.  If  this 
isn't  possible,  however,  the 
program  offers  a  floating  talk 
box,  so  the  people  connect- 
ed can  type  in  a  conversa- 
tion. A  two-player  TalkShow 
pack  is  $395. 

Microsoft  has  been  busy 
lately,  and  Ihe  company 
showed  a  raft  of  new  prod- 
ucts at  PC  Expo.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  was  Micro- 
soft at  Work,  which  is  a  group 
of  add-ins  that  make  office 
equipment  easier  to  use  by  im- 
proving its  interface.  The  dem- 
onstration concentrated  on 
the  Microsoft  at  Work  tele- 
phone interface, 
which  transforms 
the  phone  into  a 
really  intelligent 
device.  A  small 
high-resolution 
screen  is  embed- 
ded in  the  phone, 
and  it  shows  all 
kinds  of  informa- 
tion, like  who's 
calling  now  and 
who  called  while 
you  were  out.  It  al- 
so provides  an  easy  way  to 
manage  your  phone  messag- 
es. Microsoft  at  Work  is  a  little 
hard  to  describe,  but  I  was 
impressed. 

On  the  main  show  floor, 
Stac  Electronics  was  counter- 
ing Microsoft's  new  Dou- 
bleSpace with  the  introduc- 
tion of  Stacker  3.1.  This  new 
version  of  Stacker  has  a 
score  of  neat  features.  The 
most  useful  of  these  inte- 
grates Stacker  into  the  operat- 
ing system — just  like  DOS  6's 
DoubleSpace — so  there  are 
no  longer  two  sets  of  system 
files  to  deal  with.  It  also  has 
some  very  well  thought-out 
safety  features.  For  example, 
it  automatically  flushes  the 
SMARTDrive  cache  when  you 
close  Windows  and  go  to 
DOS.  For  a  general  overview 
of  Stacker  versus  Dou- 
bleSpace, see  my  "Windows 
Workshop"  column  in  this  is- 


sue, which  was  written,  by  the 
way,  before  I  saw  Stacker 
3.1.  Stacker's  upgrade  price 
is  $49.95. 

Behind  closed  doors,  Hewl- 
ett-Packard was  showing 
Dashboard  2.0,  its  second- 
generation  Windows  shell. 
Dashboard  1.0  was  pretty 
cool,  and  this  new  version 
adds  many  new  features,  in- 
cluding snap-off  quick- 
launch  toolboxes,  The  inter- 
face is  also  much  more  config- 
urable. Dashboard  has  a  sug- 
gested retail  price  of  $99. 

COMPUTE  was  impressed 
with  Approach  1.0  when  it 
was  released  in  1992.  In  fact, 
we  gave  the  program  a  COM- 
PUTE Choice  Award  as  the 
best  database  product  of  the 
year.  Approach  2.0,  released 
late  in  1992,  was  even  better. 
This  past  June,  Approach 
was  acquired  by  Lotus,  fa- 
mous for  1-2-3,  Ami  Pro,  and 
Freelance  Graphics.  Besides 
giving  Approach  the  market- 
ing muscle  it  needs,  Lotus 
has  introduced  several  small, 
but  significant,  changes  to 
the  product.  The  version  be- 
ing shown  to  the  press  at  PC 
Expo  has  a  more  flexible  inter- 
face (one  that  matches  Lo- 
tus's other  products)  and  was 
even  easier  to  use  than  previ- 
ous versions. 

Do  Visual  Basic  program- 
mers have  more  fun?  If  they 
use  Sheridan's  VB  Assist  3.0. 
they  do.  This  Visual  Basic 
add-in  can  double  the  produc- 
tivity of  almost  any  VB  pro- 
grammer, VB  Assist  adds  two 
toolbars  to  the  VB  screen 
with  features  that  make  design- 
ing, coding,  and  managing 
projects  amazingly  easy  This 
superb  tool  improves  on  VB's 
already  excellent  interface; 
it's  available  for  $179. 

All  in  all,  PC  Expo  was  a 
good  show.  Although  I  didn't 
get  to  see  each  of  the  800  ex- 
hibits, I  do  think  I  bumped 
into  most  of  the  85,000 
attendees.  D 


Mission 

IBM  Progiamming  Systems  introduces 
C  Set++™  the  most  complete  application 
development  package  vou  can  buv  for 
■  OS/2®  Its  32-bit  C/C++ 
compiler  lets  you  unleash 
all  the  power  of  OS/2  —  so  you  can 
create  the  most  advanced,  high- 
performance  applications. 

It  has  an  extraordinary  code  optimizer  with  a 
fuU  set  of  options.  Even  a  switch  to  optimize  for  the  new 
Pentium™  processor.  Plus  a  full  set  of  class  libraries, 
including  application  frameworks  for  PM,  container 
classes  and  classes  for  multitasking,  streams  and  more. 

There's  also  a  fiiU  complement  of  other  helpful 
features.  Such  as  an  interactive  source  level  debugger. 

And  the  unique  Execudon  Trace 
Analyzer  traces  the 

execution  of  a  program, 
then  graphically  displays 
diagrams  of  the 


analysis.  Plus  a  class 
library  browser  that 
shows  class  Kbrar}^  relationships. 

What's  more,  you  get  Workframe/2™  a  language- 
independent  tool  that  lets  you  customize  your  own  envi- 
ronment. It's  adaptable  and  flexible  —  you  can  use  atiy  16 
and  32-bit  DOS,  Windows™  and  OS/2  tools. 


1                   C  Set  ++ Technical  Features 

ANSICX3.159-1989 

NIST  validated 

Standards 

ANSI  C++ X3J16  (Full  ARM) 

L.  .  .: 

150  9899:1990 

Global 

^^Hjmization 

Inter-module 

Function  inlinmg 

■  -  .  •■  ■    ■  •-•{ 

■  Instruction  sctieduling 

To  order  C  Set++ , 
contact  your  nearest  dealer  or  call 
1-800-342-6672  (USA)  or 
1-800-465-7999  ext.  460  (Canada). 

Qearly,  there's  only  one  place  to  start,  C  Set++ . 


starts 
here 


IBM  and  OS/2  are  registered  trademarks  and  C  Set^-i-  and  Wbrkfram^  are  tiademaris  of  International  Business  Mactiinss  Corporation.  Pentium  is  a  trademarli  o)  Intel  Corporation. 
Windows  is  a  trademark  of  Microsoft  Corp.  ®  1993  IBM  Corp, 

Circle  Reader  Service  Numlwr  207 


Now^ 

You  wanted  the  power  to  choose  from  a  world  of  dif- 
ferent applications.  DOS  applications.  Windows™ 

applications.  OS/2®  applications.  OS/2  2.0 

gav<^  you  the  power.  And  the  res|)onse  \vas 

impressive,  to  say  the  least.  Over  two  million 
copies  shipped  in  less  than  one  year.  More  than 
1,200  OS/2  applications  already  available*  But  now 
you  want  more.  More  features.  More  functions.  More 
applications  to  choose  from.  That's  why  were  intro- 
ducing OS/2  2.1. 

The  new  OS/2  2.1  lets  you  run  the  latest 
Windows  3.1  applications,  in  addition  to  the 
DOS,  Windows  and  OS/2  ap|)lications  vou  can 
already  run.  WeVe  also  added  TrueType  fonts,  select 
Windows  applets,  File  Manager  and  support  lor 
Windows  3.1  printer  and  display  drivers,  including 
32-bit  seamless  SVGA  support.  And  now  yon  can 
start  DOS  and  OS/2  applications  from  a  WlN-OS/2 
session,  too. 

Portable  users  will  be  glad  to  know  that 
OS/2  2.1  provides  industry-standard  Advanced  Power 

W    IVilh  0Sf2  2.1  at  the  heart  of  your  PC,  you  can  run  a  norld  of  DOS,  f^indows  and  OS/2  applicaliiins. 


There's  no  need  In  buy  DOS  anil  If  iiiiUms  in  run  DOS 
and  Windows  applications. 


Management  (APM)  support,  to  help  extend 
battery  life.  We've  made  the  cursor  larger  so  it's 
easier  to  find  your  place  on  the  screen.  And 
OS/2  2.1  continues  to  exploit 
the  very  latest  in  technology. 
You'll  find  impro\ed  support  for 
rnnlti-media  ap|»lications  and 
pen-based  capaljitities,  along 
with  built-in  CD-liOM  and 
AS/400®  terminal  emulation 
support. 

Ofcourse,  OS/2  2.1  still 
gives  you  true  pre-emptive 
multitasking, 
superior  OS/2 
Crash  Protection" 
and  the  easy-to-use 
object-oriented  Workplace 
Shell™  interface.  All  the 
features  that  made  Version  2.0 
an  award-wituier,  lint  now, 
vou  also  get  a  whole  new  world 
of  possibilities. 


6 


Introducing 
Version  2.1 


chance 


OS/2  2.1  is  now  also  available  on 
CD-ROM.  It  comes  with  exciting 
multimedia  samplers,  full-motion  video 
demos  and  more. 

Demand  OS/2  2.1 
preloaded  on  your 
next  PC. 

With  our  free  demo  diskette,  vou 
can  find  out  even  more  about  all  the 

the 

•■RP'^    powerful  features  OS/2  2.1  has  to 
^^^      offer.  For  your  copy,  to  find  out 
^ ''^^        more  about  OS/2  2.1,  or  to  order, 


to  run 


OS/2  2.1  Advantages 

Improves  productivity 

Easy  to  use 

•  Now  runs  OS/2,  DOS 

•  Now  also  available  on 

and  new  Windows  3.1 

CD-ROM. 

applications. 

•  Obiect-oriemed  Workplace 

•  New  TrueType  fonts. 

Shell  interface. 

Windows  applets. 

Advanced  32-bit 

File  Manager 

architecture 

•  Advanced  Power 

•  Seamless  SVGA  support. 

Management  (APM) 

■  Fully  exploits  latest 

support  extends  battery 

multimedia  applications. 

lite  for  portables. 

•  Supports  CD-ROM, 

•  OS/2  Crash  Protection  and 

PCMCIA  and  pen 

pre-emptive  multitasking, 

techinologies. 

calll8003-IBM-OS2. 


Calljor  yimrjree 
demo  dkkeuc.    In  Canada,  call  1  800  465-7999. 

Operate  at  a  higher  level." 


world 


■To  ordei  CD-R0I\1  with  list  of  03/2  applications,  call  Walnut  Creek  at  1  BOO  7B6-9907  IBM.  AS/400  anc  OS/2  are  regislereci  trademarks  and 
OS/2  Crash  Protection.  Workplace  Shell  and  "Operate  at  a  higher  level "  are  trademarks  of  Interrialional  Business  Machines  Corporation.  Windows 
IS  a  trademark  of  Ivlicrosoft  Corporation,  TrueType  is  a  trademark  of  Apple  Computer.  Inc  ©1993  IBfJl  Ccrp 


What  you  should  know  about  your 
computer's  display  system 

SEEIJVG 

BELIEVING 

Have  you  ever  wondered  why  Windows  looks  so  different  on  your  monitor 
from  the  way  it  looks  on  the  monitor  at  the  computer  store?  Or  why  your 
friend  Joe's  fonts  appear  so  much  crisper  and  clearer?  Or  how  come  his 
colors  are  so  plentiful  and  pure  and  his  graphics  display  is  so  much 
faster?  The  answer  is  simple.  Like  cars,  washing  machines,  and  lawn 
mowers,  computer  display  systems  come  with  a  variety  of  options,  and, 
of  course,  in  a  wide  range  of  prices. 

Since  the  introduction  of  Windows  3.0,  with  its  support  of  high  resolu- 
tions and  16.7  million  colors,  hardware  vendors  have  been  scrambling  to 
find  ways  to  make  what  shows  up  on  your  monitor  faster  and  prettier. 
While  the  results  are  impressive — never  before  have  type  and  graphics 
displayed  so  well  on  so  many  computer  screens — the  resulting  plethora 
of  display  system  types  and  sizes  has  become  mind-boggling.  You  have 
8-bit,  16-bit,  and  24-bit  color  displaying  at  four  or  five  different  resolu- 
tions; graphics  accelerators;  local-bus  adapters;  analog  and  digital 
video;  VGA  and  Super  VGA— no  wonder  it's  so  confusing! 

Let's  see  if  we  can't  make  it  all  make  sense, 

Your  Display  System 

To  display  information,  be  it  text  or  graphics,  all  computers  require  two 
components:  a  display  adapter  and  a  monitor  Display  systems  run  in 
various  modes  providing  different  palettes  and  resolutions.  Keep  in  mind 
during  this  discussion  that  for  you  to  get  the  most  from  a  display  system, 
your  display  adapter  and  monitor  must  support  the  same  modes.  It  does 
you  little  good,  for  example,  to  spend  the  extra  money  on  a  Super  VGA 
display  adapter  if  your  monitor  supports  only  VGA. 

Often  called  a  graphics  card,  the  display  adapter  is  usually  a  separate 
card  that  slips  into  a  bus  slot  on  the  motherboard  {some  computers  have 
display  adapters  built  onto  the  motherboard).  The  display  adapter 
processes  information  from  the  computer  and  sends  it  to  the  monitor. 

When  looking  for  a  graphics  card,  you  should  consider  the  resolution, 
number  of  colors  (or  bits  per  pixel),  the  screen  refresh  rate,  and  whether 
it  supports  interlaced  or  noninterlaced  display.  Also  determine  whether 
the  card  is  accelerated.  (Accelerated  cards  are  discussed  in  the  accom- 
panying sidebar  "Fiunning  Windows  at  the  Speed  of  Light.") 

By  William  Harrel 


i 


Resolution 

Resolution  refers  to  the  number 
of  dots,  or  pixels,  on  tfie  screen. 
The  higher  the  resolution,  the 
more  information  you  can  fit  on 
the  screen.  In  Windows  that 
means  that  you  can  view  more 
open  windows  at  the  same  time, 
or,  in  a  desktop  publishing  pro- 
gram, such  as  PageMaker,  you 
get  a  better  what-you-see-is- 
what-you-gef  (WYSIWYG)  repre- 
sentation of  how  the  page  will 
print. 

Standard  VGA  has  a  resolu- 
tion of  640  pixels  across  and  480 
pixels  down  (640  x  480}.  Super 
VGA  mode  is  800  x  600  or  high- 
er. VGA  and  Super  VGA  are  the 
most  common  resolutions,  but 
1024  X  768  and  even  1280  x 
1024  (sometimes  called  Ultra  or 
Extended  VGA)  are  becoming 
increasingly  popular. 

When  you  choose  a  resolu- 
tion, you1l  also  need  to  consider 
the  screen  size  of  the  monitor.  If 
you  cram  too  many  pixels  onto  a 
14-inch  monitor,  text  becomes 
too  small  to  be  read  easily.  A 
good  rule  of  thumb  is  to  use  a 
system  that  approximates  the 
size  of  the  final  printed  text.  This 
table  should  help  you  match  res- 
olution and  monitor  sizes. 


Resolution 

VGA  (640  X  480) 

SuperVGA 
(800  X  600) 

Extended  VGA 
(1024x768) 
(1280x1024) 


Screen  Size 

14  inches 
15-16  inches 

17  inches  or 

higher 
19-21  inches 


Keep  in  mind  that  these  reso- 
lution recommendations  are 
helpful  for  viewing  text.  However, 
no  matter  what  size  your  monitor, 
graphics  applications  benefit 
greatly  from  high  resolutions.  If 
you  edit  graphics  in  Corel- 
DRAW!, Micrografx  Works,  or 
some  other  application  (and  use 
a  small  monitor),  you  should 
choose  a  card  that  lets  you 
switch  resolutions,  so  you  don't 
have  to  strain  your  eyes  when  editing 
text.  Whether  you  use  a  14-  or  a  21- 
inch  monitor,  editing  graphics  in  640  x 
480  mode  is  hardly  adequate.  You1l 
get  a  much  better  WYSIWYG  repre- 
sentation of  what  the  final  output  will 
look  like  at  1024  x  768.  Desktop  pub- 
lishers also  benefit  from  the  higher- 
resolution  displays  with  large  moni- 
tors. The  idea  is  that  the  better  your 
display,  the  easier  it  is  to  proof  layouts 
onscreen,  rather  than  by  printing 
drafts.  This  saves  both  time  and  paper. 

10    COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER   1993 


The  higher  the  resolution  of  your  display,  the  bet- 
ter the  quality  and  the  larger  the  editing  area. 
From  top  to  bottom,  the  resolutions  of  these 
screen  captures  are  640  x  480,  800  x  600,  and 
1024  X  768. 


Presentations  and  multimedia  applica- 
tions also  benefit  from  high  resolutions. 

Millions  of  Colors 

Perhaps  even  more  confusing  than 
resolution  is  color.  Graphics  cards  are 
rated  by  the  number  of  distinct  colors 
they  can  display  on  a  screen  at  one 
time.  The  range  is  from  16  colors  to 
16.7  million  colors,  with  256  being  the 
most  common  number  of  colors.  The 
number  of  colors  a  card  is  capable  of 
producing  depends  on  its  bits-per- 


pixel  rate.  A  rate  of  four  bits  per 
pixel,  for  example,  provides  16 
colors;  a  rate  of  24  bits  per  pixel 
provides  16.7  million  colors. 

The  16-color  model  is  the 
easiest  one  to  use  to  demon- 
strate this  concept.  Since  there 
are  four  bits  per  pixel,  you  have 
4  x  4  (16)  possible  RGB  combi- 
nations. As  the  number  of  bits 
per  pixel  increases,  the  possible 
combinations  also  increase  sub- 
stantially. 

For  most  applications,  256 
colors  are  fine.  If  you  work  with 
graphics,  you  should  use  high 
color.  Most  people,  except  for 
users  of  high-end  photograph- 
editing  software,  such  as 
PhotoShop  or  PhotoStyler,  don't 
need  24-bit  color. 

(Note  that  just  because  a  dis- 
play is  capable  of  only  16  or  256 
colors,  this  doesn't  mean  that 
unsupported  colors  do  not  dis- 
play. In  Windows,  for  example, 
when  an  image  calls  for  more 
colors  than  the  graphics  card  is 
capable  of,  the  additional  colors 
are  displayed  through  a  process 
called  dithering.  Dithering  mixes 
two  or  more  solid  colors  to  form 
another.  If  you  have  a  low-resolu- 
tion display  that  doesn't  support 
many  colors,  you've  probably 
noticed  that  some  hues  seem 
coarse.  This  is  the  result  of 
dithering.  In  many  applications, 
dithering  is  not  a  problem,  but  in 
graphics  and  photograph  pro- 
cessing, where  color  purity  is 
critical,  it  is  not  acceptable.) 

Finally,  as  in  everything  else 
in  life,  there  are  trade-offs  for 
these  beautiful,  high-resolution 
displays.  The  more  colors  and 
the  higher  the  resolution,  the 
more  computing  that  is  required 
of  your  CPU,  which  slows  down 
your  system,  You  can  get  around 
the  demand  that  high  resolution 
and  numerous  colors  place  on 
your  computer  by  choosing  an 
accelerated  graphics  card. 
Today's  graphics  cards  come  in 
four  color  standards,  as  depict- 


ed in  the  following  table. 


Bits/ 

Mode 

Colors 

Pixel 

Name 

4 

minimum  color 

16 

8 

pseudo  color 

256 

16 

high  color 

32,768 

24 

true  color 

16.7  million 

Caution:  Just  because  a  display 
adapter  claims  32,768  or  16.7  million 
colors  doesn't  mean  it  supports  them 
at  all  resolutions.  When  you  increase 


the  number  of  colors,  the  dis- 
play adapter  needs  more 
memory  to  store  the  additional 
information.  When  looking  at  a 
card's  color  (and  resolution) 
specifications,  make  sure  it's 
capable  of  the  number  of  col- 
ors you  need  at  the  desired 
resolution.  Sometimes  you  can 
add  RAM  to  a  graphics  card 
to  increase  resolution  and 
color  capabilities.  You  should 
also  be  careful  that  the  card  is 
shipped  with  a  Windows  driver 
(software  that  lets  Windows 
use  the  card)  that  supports 
the  number  of  colors  and  res- 
olutions you  need.  If  you  don't 
use  Windows,  make  sure  you 
have  the  needed  drivers  for 
the  applications  you  do  use. 

Refresh  Rate 

If  you  spend  a  lot  of  time  at 
your  computer,  be  on  the  look- 
out for  a  card  with  a  high 
refresh  rate.  Your  eyes  will  be 
forever  grateful.  The  refresh 
rate  is  the  speed  at  which  the 
screen  gets  repainted.  If  the 
refresh  rate  is  too  low,  your 
monitor  flickers,  which  is 
annoying  and  hard  on  the 
eyes.  It  can  cause  headaches 
and  lead  to  long-ternn  vision 
problems. 

Refresh  rates  are  mea- 
sured in  hertz  (Hz).  A  rate  of 
72  Hz  means  the  screen  is 
refreshed  72  times  per  sec- 
ond. Anything  less  than  72  Hz 
can  cause  noticeable  flicker. 
Just  because  a  card  claims 
"up  to  72  Hz"  doesn't  mean  it 
supports  that  rate  in  all 
modes.  Match  the  refresh  rate 
to  the  number  of  colors  and 
resolution  at  which  you  plan  to 
use  the  card. 

Interlaced  Versus 
Noninterlaced 

Also  critical  to  how  a  display 
system  treats  your  eyes  is 
whether  or  not  it's  noninter- 
laced. In  an  interlaced  dis- 
play, the  electron  gun  paints 
every  other  line  on  the  monitor 
each  time  it  is  refreshed — first, 
even  lines  and  then  odd  lines 
on  the  next  trip  down  the  screen — 
which  causes  flicker.  Many  graphics 
adapters  claim  to  be  noninterlaced, 
but  if  you  took  closely  at  the  advertis- 
ing material  or  documentation,  you'll 
see  that  they  are  interlaced  at  higher 
resolutions.  Remember  that  the  moni- 
tor must  also  support  noninterlacing  in 
the  modes  you  plan  to  run. 


More  colors,  less  dithering:  With  16  colors  (top)  and  256 
colors  (middle),  Windows  dithers  to  compensate  for  the 
lacl<  of  pure  colors.  With  16.7  miliion  colors  (bottom), 
dithering  Is  unnecessary. 


Monitors 

Once  the  display  adapter  collects  a 
screenful  of  data  from  the  CPU,  the 
video  signal  moves  on  to  the  monitor. 
The  monitor  uses  an  electron  gun  to 
paint  the  picture.  The  electron  gun. 
which  scans  back  and  forth  very 
rapidly,  causes  phosphors  on  the 
inside  of  the  screen  to  glow.  On  a 


color  monitor,  the  phosphors 
are  red,  green,  and  blue 
(RGB).  Depending  on  the 
color  capabilities  of  the 
graphics  card,  RGB  combi- 
nations are  mixed  to  create 
other  colors — up  to  16.7  mil- 
lion, which,  by  the  way,  is  far 
more  than  the  human  eye 
can  discern  at  one  time. 

The  phosphors  glow  for 
only  a  small  fraction  of  a  sec- 
ond, so  the  electron  gun 
must  repaint  (refresh)  them 
many  times  per  second.  The 
electron  gun  paints  the 
screen  one  line  at  a  time. 
When  it  finishes  one  line,  it 
moves  down  to  the  next. 
When  it  reaches  the  bottom 
of  the  screen,  it  moves  back 
to  the  top.  The  rate  at  which 
the  electron  gun  repaints  the 
lines  is  the  refresh  rate.  The 
rate  that  the  gun  moves  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom  is  the 
scan  rate.  As  mentioned,  the 
two  primary  considerations 
when  buying  a  monitor  are  its 
size  and  whether  it  supports 
the  resolution  and  refresh 
rate  of  the  graphics  card  in 
your  system.  Some  other 
things  to  consider  when  pur- 
chasing a  monitor  include 
multlscanning,  dot  pitch,  and 
screen  type. 

Before  looking  at  monitor- 
specific  concerns,  however, 
let's  bhefly  review  the  issues 
that  affect  both  monitors  and 
graphics  cards. 

Resolution.  Remember 
that  the  monitor  must  support 
the  resolutions  of  the  graph- 
ics card,  including  the  high- 
est one  you  plan  to  use.  The 
good  news  is  that  you  don't 
have  to  worry  about  buying  a 
monitor  that  supports  the 
number  of  colors  you  need. 
All  color  monitors  support  as 
many  colors  as  your  display 
adapter  can  generate. 

Refresh  rate.  The  monitor 
also  must  have  the  same 
refresh  rate  as  your  graphics 
card  at  the  resolutions  you  plan 
to  use.  Again,  make  sure  the 
desired     resolutions     and 
desired  refresh  rates  match.  Just  be- 
cause a  monitor  supports  72  Hz  at  640  x 
480  doesn't  mean  it  will  at  1024  x  768. 

Screen  size.  Remember  that  it's 
important  to  match  screen  size  to  text 
size.  However,  where  the  size  of  your 
monitor  really  counts  is  in  graphics 
and  page  layout  applications.  (Large 
monitors  also  help  immensely  when 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE  11 


giving  onscreen  presentations  to  siz- 
able audiences.)  When  laying  out  a 
double-sided,  two-page  document, 
for  example,  tiie  extra  screen  real 
estate  provided  by  a  large  monitor  is 
very  tielpful.  A  19-  to  21 -inch  screen 
provides  a  much  more  accurate 
WYSIWYG  view  of  the  final  document. 
Tills  makes  it  easier  to  judge  how  well 
elements  line  up  and  to  assess  your 
overall  layout,  and  it  saves  a  lot  of 
time  by  reducing  the  number  of  print- 
ed drafts  needed. 

Having  reviewed  the  primary  con- 
siderations, we  can  turn  to  monitor- 
specific  concerns, 

Multiscanning.  Multiscanning 
refers  to  the  monitor's  ability  to  syn- 
chronize refresh  rates  automatically. 
Basically,  this  allows  you  to  use  differ- 
ent graphics  cards  with  the  same 
monitor.  It  also  allows  you  to  switch  in 
and  out  of  DOS  applications  from 
Windows  without  having  to  manually 
adjust  the  monitor. 

Dot  pitch.  The  size  of  a  monitor's 
pixels  is  measured  by  dot  pitch.  The 
smaller  the  dot  pitch,  the  crisper  and 
cleaner  the  display.  A  good  rule  to  fol- 
low is  that  16-inch  or  smaller  monitors 
should  have  a  dot  pitch  of  0.28  mm  or 
lower;  17-inch  or  larger  monitors  can 


Microsoft's  Video  for  Windows  lets 
your  computer  run  full-motion  video. 

get  by  with  0.31  mm  or  lower. 

Screen  type.  The  screen  type 
can  also  affect  the  quality  of  your  dis- 
play. All  monitors  should  contain  an 
antiglare  mechanism,  either  a  sepa- 
rate coating  on  the  screen  or  a  built-in 
filtering  device.  Some  people  prefer 
flat  screens  to  the  traditional  convex 


(or  spherical)  designs.  The  theory  Is 
that  the  flat  screens  more  closely  rep- 
resent a  sheet  of  paper. 

Before  You  Buy 

There  are,  of  course,  some  other  things 
to  think  about  when  upgrading  your 
display  system.  Chief  among  these 
other  considerations  is  price.  Monitors 
and  graphics  cards  are  designed  for  a 
variety  of  applications,  ranging  from 
simple  word  processing  to  very  high- 
end  graphic  design.  Naturally,  the 
demands  of  digital  photograph  editing 
are  much  higher  than,  say,  balancing 
your  checkbook  In  Quicken. 

Prices  for  graphics  cards  and  mon- 
itors run  from  reasonable  to  absurd. 
You  can  pick  up  a  good  Super  VGA 
graphics  card  for  between  $150  and 
$500.  Or  you  can  go  to  the  extreme 
and  choose  a  high-end  graphics 
design  station  card  for  upwards  of 
$3,000.  When  looking  at  the  vast 
selection,  it's  difficult  to  tell  why  some 
cost  so  much  more  than  others.  The 
differences  in  quality  and  speed  are 
often  indiscernible.  Monitor  prices  also 
fluctuate  dramatically.  However,  since 
monitor  prices  generally  vary  directly 
with  size,  refresh  rate,  and  resolution, 
and  inversely  with  dot  pitch,  the  pric- 


Ruiminci  l^indoTTS  at  tKe  Speed  of  Lifjht 


A  common  complaint  among  users 
who  switch  from  DOS  character- 
based  applications  to  Windows  is 
that  Windows'  GUI  (Graphical  User 
Interface)  slows  down  their  comput- 
ers. Depending  on  the  machine  in 
question,  the  performance  hit  can  be 
substantial. 

The  reason  for  the  sluggishness  Is 
that,  unlike  character-based  applica- 
tions, the  Windows  interface  uses 
every  pixel  on  your  monitor  to  paint 
the  screen.  This  requires  hundreds 
of  times  more  Information  flowing 
from  the  CPU  to  the  screen  than  the 
average  DOS  application. 

This  rush  of  information  causes  an 
immense  logjam  at  the  bus  port, 
where  the  display  information  is 
passed  on  to  the  graphics  card.  One 
way  to  relieve  the  bottleneck  is  v/ith  a 
graphics  accelerator.  These  cards 
take  the  bulk  of  the  display  process- 
ing on  themselves,  winich  frees  up 
the  CPU  to  do  more  fundamental 
tasks,  such  as  calculating  your 
spreadsheet  or  sorting  a  mailing  list. 

A  number  of  accelerator  cards 
are  available,  ranging  widely  in 
price.  The  cost  of  the  accelerator 
depends  primarily  on  supported  res- 


olution, number  of  colors,  and 
refresh  rate.  The  cards  also  come  in 
many  configurations,  with  various 
coprocessor  chips  and  RAM  config- 
urations. 

While  I  am  not  usually  reluctant  to 
recommend  one  product  over  anoth- 
er, the  field  here  is  wide  open.  The 
important  issue  in  this  category  is  not 
what  chips  are  on  the  board,  but 
rather  the  board's  performance.  How 
fast  does  the  card  speed  up  screen 
redraw  in  Windows?  Some  claim  up 
to  30-fold  speed  boosts,  but  double, 
triple,  or  quadruple  the  speed  of 
your  current  display  system  is  more 
likely,  especially  if  you  work  with 
large  graphics. 

It  takes  a  lot  of  horsepower  to  dis- 
play thousands  of  colors  at  high  res- 
olution. Most  Windows  users  should 
look  into  accelerated  graphics 
cards.  The  Immense  increase  in  per- 
formance far  outweighs  the  small 
increase  in  price.  In  some  cases, 
you'll  pay  only  $50  to  $100  more  lor 
an  accelerated  version  of  a  vendor's 
graphics  card. 

In  other  words,  the  only  reason 
not  to  go  for  an  accelerated  card  is  if 
you  believe  you'll  never  need  to  dis- 


play more  than,  say,  256  colors  at 
800  X  600  resolution. 

Clalcliinfj  the  Local  Bus 

Another  way  to  speed  up  Windows  is 
with  a  local-bus  graphics  card. 
However,  the  only  way  to  get  one  is 
by  buying  a  new  computer — one 
equipped  with  a  locai-bus  port  on 
the  motherboard. 

Most  computers  interface  with 
graphics  cards  at  8  or  16  bits. 
However,  today's  386  and  486 
machines  process  data  at  32  bits. 
The  result  is  a  bottleneck  between  the 
computer  and  the  display  adapter. 
The  local  bus  is  a  32-bit  bus  port  that 
holds  a  32-blt  adapter,  which  doubles 
the  rate  at  which  the  computer  can 
send  data  to  the  monitor. 

If  you're  in  the  market  for  a  new 
computer  to  run  Windows,  especially 
Windows  graphics  applications, 
such  as  CorelDRAW!  or  PhotoFinish, 
make  sure  your  new  machine  is 
equipped  with  a  local-bus  display 
system. 

Which  is  more  important?  An 
accelerated  ISA-bus  card  will  actual- 
ly drive  your  display  faster  than  an 
unaccelerated  local-bus  card. 


12      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


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•Dealer  price  may  vary. 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  203 


but  you'll 
equally  stunning 
s      in  color. 


HE  ALL-NEW  STAR  Sj-144:  Star's  achievements  are 
jipressive  in  black,  and  white.  But  it's  in  full  color  that 
.ney  really  dazzle.  Now  this  same  brilliance  can  be 
brought  to  your  documents  at  an  incredibly  affordable 
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_^  far  better  than  any  ink  jet.  And  the 

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1^ 


THECOMPUTEF 


SPEAK  UP! 

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you'd  like  to  see  covered 

in  COMPUTE?  Let  us 

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minute,  you  must  be  18  or 

older,  and  you  must  use 

a  touch-tone  phone. 


Irlo'vieis  on    m  ouii*  Jrlonilor 


The  word  video  brings  to  mind  rent- 
ing Terminator  2  at  the  video  store  or 
watching  Ivladonna  on  MTV.  Recent 
hardware  and  software  technology 
has  brought  motion  pictures,  or 
video,  to  the  computer  screen,  As 
with  the  desktop  publishing  craze  of 
a  few  years  ago.  it  won't  be  long 
before  virtually  anybody  can  create 
and  edit  videos  on  a  computer. 

Personal  computers,  both  Mac- 
intoshes and  PCs  running  Windows, 
process  video  with  one  of  two  stan- 
dards: analog  or  digital  video. 

Analog  ViJeo 

Analog  video  is  the  standard  used 
by  TVs,  VCRs,  laser  disc  players, 
and  camcorders.  Analog  video  is 
typically  stored  on  videotape  or 
videodisc. 

To  use  analog  video  with  your 
computer,  you'll  need  a  special  dis- 


play adapter  known  as  a  video-in-a- 
window  card.  You  can  then  run 
video  from  any  VCR,  TV  cable,  or 
other  analog  device.  One  of  the 
more  popular  video  cards  is  Creative 
Labs'  Video  Blaster. 

Dicfital  ^iJeo 

Digital  video  is  a  digital  form  of  video 
that  can  be  stored  as  a  computer 
file.  Two  examples  are  Microsoft's 
Video  for  Windows  and  Apple's 
QuickTime.  These  full-motion  video 
standards  run  with  or  without  a  video 
board;  however,  for  the  best  perfor- 
mance, you  need  the  additional 
hardware. 

If  you're  looking  for  a  quick,  inex- 
pensive, and  easy  way  to  put  video 
in  Windows,  choose  Video  for 
Windows.  It's  easy  to  install  and 
comes  with  several  video  strips  to 
get  you  started. 


ing  seems  to  make  a  lot  more  sense 
than  the  pncing  of  graphics  cards. 

When  you  start  doing  your 
research,  you'll  find  that  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  cards  and  monitors  available. 
(That's  the  reason  I  didn't  mention  any 


by  name  in  this  article.  There  are  so 
many  good  ones  that  I  didn't  want  to 
penalize  vendors  by  not  mentioning 
them.)  The  best  test  for  a  graphics  dis- 
play is  to  see  it  in  action.  If  you  can, 
get  a  demonstration.  Ask  to  see  the 


applications  you  run  displayed,  and 
put  them  through  their  paces  on  a  sys- 
tem with  your  prospective  adapter  and 
monitor  installed.  If  you  buy  through 
mail  order,  make  sure  you  get  a 
money-back  guarantee,  □ 


14      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


ADVERTISEMENT 


TECHNOLOGY  UPDATE 


How  to  get  surround 
sound  without  buying 
the  theater. . . 

An  amazing  new  surround  sound  decoder  turns  your 
existing  stereo  into  a  five  channel  home  theater. 


By  Chuck  Anion 

As  much  as  I  lovi!  renting  videos,  it's  just 
not  the  same  as  seeing  a  movie  in  a 
I  theater.  I  remember  the  first  time  I  saw 
Top  Gun.  I  nearly  jumped  out  of  my  seat  wlien 
the  planes  fle^v  o\'crhead.  One  of  the  reasons 
movies  seem  so  real  is  because  they  use  sur- 
round sound  to  make  it  seem  like  you're  ac- 
tually there.  Now,  an 
incredible  new  device 
lets  you  use  your 
stereo  receiver  to  get 
that  same  surround 
sound  in  your  home. 

It  takes  more  than 
just  four  speakers  to 
get  surround  sound. 
You  need  to  have 
some  way  of  separat- 
ing the  signals.  The 
new  QD-1  Series  [I  de- 
coder does  just  that, 
and  in  a  revolutionary 
way  that  rivals  the 
best  Dolby  Pro- Logic 
and  TUX  Systems 
available. 

Wins  over  critics. 

Noted   audio   critic, 
Len  Feldman,  review- 
ed the  QD-1  for  the 
September  issue  of 
Audio  Ma^nziuc.  He 
concluded         that 
"...the    QD-1    pro- 
duced a  completely 
accurate  and  realis- 
tic surround  sound 
experience  from  a  va- 
riety of  videotapes 
and  laser  discs  with  Dolby  surround  en- 
codmg...  the  QD-l  delivers  home  theater  sound 
the  way  it  was  meant  to  be  heard." 


The  Secret  of  Surround  Sound 

Surround  sound  has  become  the  rage  of  the 
'90's  because  it  adds  "depth"  lo  stereo  sound, 
giving  you  the  home  theater  experience.  Simply 
stated,  it  mal<es  you  feel  like  you're  actually  at  a 
concert  or  a  movie  theater. 

To  "fill  a  room"  with  sound  you  need  more 
than  the  two  channels.  And  that's  the  beauty  of 
the  Dynaco  QD-1 .  it  provides  five  channels  from 
any  two  channel  stereo  or  TV. 

Dynaco  offers  rear  ctiannel  speakers  specif- 
ically designed  to  integrate  with  the  qd-i  de- 
coder. You  may  also  need  our  center  channel 
speaker,  the  ai  o-v,  if  you  r  two  front  speakers  are 
more  than  eight  feet  apart.  Adding  this  fifth 
speaker,  or  center  channel,  helps  keep  dialogue 
and  important  localization  cues  centered.  So  you 
don't  need  to  spend  thousands 
of  dollars  to  enjoy  sur- 
round sound. 


Breakthrougli  'L  minus  f1.' 

Back  in  the  l%l)'s,  Dynaco  dis- 
covered that  in  addition  to  the 
right  and  left  channels,  a  "dif- 
ference" signal-  existed  in  a 
stereo  recording,  and  aptly 
named  it  "L  minus  R."  The  QD-1  is  able  to  de- 
code Dolby  Surround 
signals  in  a  videotape 
or  a  laser  disc  because 
those  spatial  and 
depth  cues  have  been 
matrixed  into  the  "L 
minus  R"  portion  of 
the  stereo  soundtrack. 
It  does  so  passively, 
with  no  signal  pro- 
cessing. What's  more 
amazing,  the  QD-1  us- 
es your  main  stereo 
amp  to  amplify  the 
rear  channels.  You  do 
not  need  any  addi- 
tional amplifiers! 
Concert  liall  sound. 
The  QD-1  also  decodes 
the  ambience  found  in 
all  musical  record- 
ings. This  sense  of 
space,  or  concert 
hall  acoustics  is  pre- 
sent in  ali  CDs  and 
cassettes,  especially 
live  recordings.  John 
Sunier  of  Audiophilc 
Edition,  a  nationaily 
syndicated  radio  pro- 
gram, says  "If  you're 


Submerge 

yourself  in  ricti 

surTDund  sound. 


a  surround  sound 
buff  who  loves  to  listen  to  music,  you'll  find 
this  S79  passive  black  box  superior  to  even  the 
$3000  THX  or  Dolby  Pro-Logic  processor." 


THE      PASSIVE      ADVANTAGE 


Passive.  The  QD-1  is  passive,  meaning  it 
requires  no  AC  current.  It  actually  sounds 
better  than  active  decoders,  producing  more  clar- 
ity, more  detail,  no  noise,  a  greater 
sense  of  space,  and  zero 
distortion.  This  superior 
passive  system  is  a  break- 
through unique  to  Dynaco. 


The  QD-1  decoder  makes  your 
movies  come  lo  !lte.  Surround 
sound  bnngs  the  theater  experi- 
ence home  to  you. 


Active.  All  Dolby  Pro-Logic  decoders 
(stand-alone  or  built-in  units)  are  active. 
This  means  they  decode  and  amplify  the 
signal  electronically.  The  active  way 
induces  noise  and  distortion,  hindering 
the  home  theater  experience. 
This  is  an  example  where 
■'more  is  less."  Spending 
thousands  on  an  active  sys- 
tem will  not  give  you  the 
performance  of  the  QD-i . 


Quick  and  easy  installation.  Hook  up  is 
easy.  The  QD-I  connects  to  the  speaker  out- 
puts on  your  amp.  Tlie  speaker  leads  then  run 
to  each  of  your  four  (or  five)  speakers.  The 
rear  channel  speakers  may  be  small;  we 
recommend  the 
AW-ls  at  S99  a 
pair.  They  come 
with  mounting 
hardware,  a  key- 
hole slot  for  flush 
mounting,  and 
have  an  attrac- 
tive all-weather    .,^    ,,., .  ^        ,        . 

Ttie  AW-1  rear  channel  speakers 
gun   metal    atu-     integrate periectiy  wuh  the  QD-1 . 
minum  finish. 

Factory  direct  offer.  The  QD-i  is  so  new 
you  won't  find  it  at  your  local  department 
store.  To  introduce  this  product,  we  are  offer- 
ing it  direct  to  you  for  a  limited  time  special 
offer.  By  ordering  now,  you  can  save  a  sub- 
stantial amomit  of  money. 

Risk-free  home  trial.  Let's  face  it  The  best 
way  to  evaluate  surround  sound  is  in  your 
home,  not  in  a  showroom.  That's  why  we're 
offering  this  risk-free  home  trial  offer. 

We're  so  sure  you'll  be  delighted  with  the 
quality  of  these  products  and  the  surround 
sound  experience  that  we  are  giving  you  30 
days  to  try  them  for  yourself.  If  they're  not  ev- 
erything vve  say,  return  them  for  a  full  refund. 

QD-1  surround  sound  decoder S79  S6S4H 

Spcnkers  designed  In/  Dj/nnco  for  tltc  QD-1; 

AW-1  two  rear  channel  speakers S99  S6  S&H 

A-10V  shielded  center  speaker $59  84  s&H 

To  receive  this  special  pricing  you  must 
menlion  promotional  code  CUI 107. 
For  fastest  service  call  toll-free  24  hours  a  day 

800-992-2966 

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Til  ordor  by  mnil  send  chock  or  money  order  for  the 
lotiii  amount  including  S&l  I  (VA  residents  add  4.57ii 
S.1I0S  tax.)  Or  jusS  charge  II  io  your  crudit  cnrd,  cnclos- 
inj;  your  account  number  and  exp,  date.  Send  to: 

INDUSTRIES 

2820  Watertord  Lake  Drive  Suite  106 
MidlQthian,  Virginia  23113 


It  works  for  beginners 
as  weD  as  experts. 

It  helps  manage  complex  systems  with 
ease.  And  no  matter  how  hard  you  try,  )'ou 
can't  exhaust  its  potential. 

In  many  ways,  it's  a  lot  like  CompuServe. 

If  you're  a  beginner  at  interactive  com- 
puter services,  we've  got  what  you're  looking  for. 


Late-breaking  news,  stock  quotes  and  financial 
data,  travel  information  and  reservations,  enter- 
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and  more.  And  we  make  it  simple,  with  on-screen 
menus,  a  handy  index,  and  free  time  to  sharpen     J 
your  online  skills. 

For  the  experienced  user  and  the  computer     i 
professional,  we  feature  hardware  and  software 
support,  special-interest  forums,  lots  of  free  soft- 
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yv^^d  "f'-Af^j  '''^f^'  tri.--i{vri 


rprffft 


expertise,  and  sophisticated  research  tools. 
In  fact,  no  computer  service  offers  the  numher 
and  quality  of  choices  that  CornpuServe  does. 

Now,  for  just  $8.95  a  month,  and  a  one- 
time memhership  fee,  you  get  all  the  basics  as 
often  as  you  like:  news,  sports,  weather,  shop- 
ping, a  complete  encyclopedia,  and  much  more, 
plus  up  to  60  E-mail  messages  a  month.  And, 
there  are  lots  of  otlier  valuable  services  available 
on  a  nominal  pay-as-you-use  basis. 


Whether  you're  a  beginner  or  an 
expert,  to  make  the  right  choice  in  selecting 
an  interactive  service,  just  use  your  brain. 
Pick  CompuServe.  For  more  information 
or  to  order,  see  your  computer  dealer  or  call 
1  800  848-8199.  Outside  the  United  States, 
call  614  4S7-0802. 

^fe  CompuServe* 

The  information  service  you  won't  outprow, 


yc 


tgf 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  10S 


TEST  LAB 


Edited  by  Mike  HudnaN 
Reviews  by  Tom  Benford 

As  you  make  your  way 
througli  \Ue  reviews  of  this 
1  montli's  notebook  comput- 
lers,  paying  attention  to  pric- 
es, performance,  and  important 
features,  the  professional  in  you 
will  doubtless  note  with  approval 
how  well  this  technology  could 
serve  your  purposes  and  make 
you  more  productive.  Practical, 
sensible,  and  well  designed, 
these  notebooks  could  be  great 
for  you  or  your  business  and 
could  possibly  give  you  just  the 
competitive  advantage  you've 
been  looking  for. 

If  you're  like  me,  however,  the 
kid  in  you  will  probably  be 
wowed  by  the  latest  innovations 
in  these  notebooks,  like  the  built- 
in  bubble-jet  printer  in  the  Canon 
notebook  or  the  ergonomicatly 
designed  pointing  devices  and 
the  PCMCIA  slots  on  several  of 
the  units  we  evaluated.  Then 
there  are  the  features  that, 
though  not  really  new,  continue  to 
impress  because  manufacturers 
keep  finding  ways  to  make  them 
better  and  less  expensive — fea- 
tures like  hard  drives,  color  dis- 
plays, and  power  management. 
For  this  Test  Lab.  we  asked  for 
486  notebooks  with  4M8  of  RAM 
and  hard  drives  of  at  least  80MB. 


18        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


As  you'll  see  when  you  peruse 
our  grid  of  features,  these  note- 
books have  486  chips  from  four 
different  manufacturers  (Cyrix, 
IBM,  Intel,  and  Texas  Instru- 
ments), and  their  speeds  range 
from  25  MHz  ail  the  way  up  to  50 
MHz.  We  could  have  tested  note- 
books with  8MB  of  RAM,  but 
since  most  come  standard  with 
4MB,  and  since  we  felt  most  COM- 
PUTE readers  would  go  with 
4MB,  that  was  our  choice,  As  for 
the  hard  drives,  we  had  no  trou- 
ble at  all  coming  up  with  large 
ones.  In  fact,  the  smallest  ones 
were  120MB,  and  a  couple  of  note- 
books sported  200MB  drives, 
more  than  enough  space  to  take 
care  of  business  on  the  road. 

It's  a  sign  of  Windows'  accep- 
tance, I  think,  that  every  notebook 
we  tested  came  with  Windows  and 
a  pointing  device  of  some  kind. 
Micro  Electronics  even  calls  its  com- 
puter the  WinBook.  So  if  you  want 
to  do  Windows  on  the  road,  these 
notebooks  are  ready. 

It's  also  worth  noting  that  the 
manufacturers  of  these  notebooks 
have  put  a  premium  on  expand- 
ability. Now  upgrading  memory, 
adding  communications  hard- 
ware, and  hooking  up  to  a  network 
are  easier  than  ever.  Docking  sta- 
tions, expansion  boxes,  and  port 
replicators  have  helped;  1  think 
that  PCMCIA  slots  and  cards  will 
help  even  more  while  eliminating 
much  of  the  bulk  and  complication 
of  earlier  solutions. 


AST  RESEARCH 
16215  Alton  Pkwy. 
P.O.  Box  19658 
[rvine,  CA  92713-9658 
(BOO)  876-4AST 
(714)  727-4141 

Suggesteti  retail  price:  S4,199  with 
80MB  drive;  $4,499  with  200MB 
drive,  Windows  3.1,  and  AST 
SmartPoInt  trackball 
Warranty:  one  year,  parts  and  latior, 
including  48-hour  repair  upon 
receipt  at  AST  {AST  pays  Ireight 
each  way) 


To  see  how  these  notebooks 
performed,  look  to  the  bar 
graphs  with  benchmark  data. 
There  you'll  find  not  only  perform- 
ance ratings  based  upon  the  Nor- 
ton Indexes  but  also  real-world 
test  data  involving  a  word  proc- 
essor, a  database,  and  more.  We 
had  planned  a  test  involving  Win- 
dows spreadsheet  calculations; 
however,  we  had  to  scrap  it, 
since  ali  of  these  486  notebooks 
were  abie  to  perform  complex 
numerical  spreadsheet  calcula- 
tions so  quickly  that  performance 
differences  were  negligible.  In 
addition  to  the  application  bench- 
mark data,  you'll  find  the  results 
of  our  battery  depletion  test. 

If  you  compute  on  the  road 
and  want  information  about  the  lat- 
est and  greatest  in  notebook  tech- 
nology, read  on.  Test  Lab  has 
reviews,  benchmark  data,  and  fea- 
ture information  you  can  use, 

MIKE  HUDNALL 

AST  POWEREXEC 
4/25SL  COLORPLUS 

Looking  for  a  high-performance 
color  notebook  with  a  genuine 
25-MHz  Intel  486SL  CPU?  Then 
you'll  want  to  learn  more  about 
AST's  PowerExec  4/25SL  Col- 
orPlus  notebook  computer. 

AST  offers  the  PowerExec 
4/25SL  with  three  different  dis- 
plays. The  4/25SL  Color  version 
features  a  passive  matrix  color 
LCD  screen,  a  25-degree  horizon- 
tal viewing  angle,  and  a  lower 
cost  than  the  4/25SL  ColorPlus. 
which  comes  equipped  with  an 
active  matrix  color  display  that 
affords  a  70-degree  viewing 
angle  and  brighter,  more  vibrant 
colors.  AST's  monochrome  ver- 
sion of  this  notebook,  called  sim- 
ply the  4/25SL,  can  display  64 
shades  of  gray  with  a  45-degree 
viewing  angle.  Both  of  the  color 
models  have  9.5-inch  (diagonal- 
ly measured)  displays  and  can 
support  256  simultaneous  colors 
at  640  X  480  resolution.  External- 
ly connected  monitors  can  dis- 


play  800  x  600  resolution  with 
256  colors,  and  you  can  use  the 
external  monitor  simultaneousiy 
with  the  notebook's  LCD. 

AST  provides  plenty  of  power 
management  support  in  the 
4/25SL  ColorPlus,  and  computing 
sessions  well  in  excess  of  four 
hours  were  common  during  my 
review  of  the  unit.  With  all  of  the 
power  management  options 
turned  off,  the  nicad  battery  will 
still  provide  in  excess  of  two  hours 
of  continuous  use  before  you 
need  to  recharge  it.  This  great 
charge  life  is  attributable  to  AST's 
3.3-volt  low-power  memory  de- 
signed specificaily  for  its  note- 
books (5  volts  is  the  usual  current 
drain  in  conventional  designs). 

A  medium  and  charcoal  gray 
color  scheme  gives  the  4/25SL 
ColorPlus  a  smart,  businesslike 
appearance.  With  this  notebook, 
AST  includes  a  nifty  detachable 
miniature  trackball,  which  snaps 
on  the  front  of  the  machine  just 
beiow  the  space  bar.  The  manu- 
facturer has  positioned  the  two 
buttons  on  either  side  of  the  ball; 
1  found  this  pointing  device  to  be 
exceptionally  well  designed  and 
easy  to  use.  It  gets  Its  power 
from  a  dedicated  port  concealed 
behind  a  spnng-loaded  panel, 
and  the  connection  is  made 
automatically  when  you  snap  the 
trackball  on  the  notebook, 

The  keyboard  has  ali  of  the  fea- 
tures serious  users  will  favor: 
dimpled  F  and  J  keys,  good  key 
spacing,  contoured  key  tops,  a 
dedicated  inverted-T  cursor  con- 
trol pad,  an  embedded  numeric 
keypad,  and  a  light,  crisp  touch. 
AST  provides  a  row  of  LEDs  with 
Icons  under  them  to  help  you 
keep  up  with  power,  battery  stat- 
us, hard  and  floppy  drive  activi- 
ty and  lock  key  status. 

The  4/25SL  ColorPlus  provides 
two  Type  II  PCf^^CIA  expansion 
slots  for  adding  options,  and  you 
can  expand  the  standard  memo- 
ry configuration  of  4MB  up  to 
32MB,  using  the  two  user-acces- 
sible memory  sockets.  Since  the 
i486SL  CPU  has  an  internal  math 


CANON  COMPUTER  SYSTEMS 

P.O.  Box  5048 

123  East  Paularino  Ave. 

Costa  Mesa,  CA  92628-5048 

(800)  848-4123 

(714)  438-3000 

Suggested  retail  price:  $2,499  for 
Model  1  witii  85MB  drive;  $2,799  lor" 
Model  2  with  135MB  drive;  $2,999 
for  Model  3  witli  180MB  drive;  $48 
lor  six-oacl<  ot  print  cartridges;  S43 
for  print  tiead 
Warranty:  one  year,  parts  and  labor 


coprocessor  and  8K  of  internal 
cache  memory,  it's  unlikely  that 
you'll  outgrow  the  power  this  note- 
book can  provide,  especially 
with  additional  RAM  installed  in  it. 
The  PowerExec  4/25SL  Col- 
orPlus Is  bound  to  appeal  to  the 
discriminating  user  who  wants  a 
superior  color  notebook. 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  371 

aNONNOTEJET486 

Canon  has  taken  portability  a 
step  further  with  its  printer- 
equipped,  486-based  NoteJet 
486  tVlodel  2. 

The  NoteJet  has  a  Canon  Bub- 
ble Jet  printer  integrated  right 
into  the  case  of  the  computer, 
making  this  truly  a  portable  office 
that  will  fit  easily  into  a  briefcase. 
The  printer  is  functionally  Identi- 
cal to  the  Canon  BJ-130e  in  that 
it  uses  a  head  configuration  with 
64  nozzles  and  provides  a  maxi- 
mum: pnnt  resolution  of  360  x  360 
dots  per  inch  with  a  maximum 
print  speed  of  1 1 6  characters  per 
second.  Because  it  also  emulates 
the  IBM  ProPhnter  X24E  and  the 
Epson  LQ-510,  you  have  real  print- 
ing versatility.  An  automatic 
sheet  feeder  capable  of  holding 
ten  sheets  at  a  time  is  also  built 
into  the  printer  portion  of  the 
NoteJet,  and  the  Bubble  Jet  ink 
cartridge  yields  approximately 
100,000  characters  before  it 
requires  replacement. 

The  heart  of  the  NoteJet,  a 
Texas  Instruments  486SLC  CPU 


running  at  25  MHz,  endows  the 
machine  with  respectable  perform- 
ance while  maintaining  a  miserly 
current  draw  from  the  machine's 
nicad  battery 

A  Cyrix  CX83S87  25-MHz 
math  coprocessor  can  be  in- 
stalled as  an  option  should  your 
work  require  enhanced  math 
coprocessing,  and  you  can 
expand  the  NoteJet's  standard 
RAM  configuration  of  4MB  to 
6MB,  8MB,  or  12MB  with  the 
optional  SIMM  board  that 
mounts  in  a  single  available 
SIMM  slot.  You  can  easily  install 
either  of  these  upgrade  options, 
since  both  the  math  coprocessor 
socket  and  the  SIMM  socket  are 
accessible  via  a  snap-off  cover 
on  the  bottom  of  the  machine. 
This  is  a  nice  touch  Canon  add- 
ed here,  since  installing  such 
upgrades  on  other  notebook  com- 
puters usually  requires  disassem- 
bly of  the  computer  by  a  techni- 
cian. For  adding  other  options, 
you  have  two  PCMCIA  card  slots 
behind  another  snap-off  panel  on 
the  left  side  of  the  NoteJet. 

A  wand-style  pointing  device 
provided  with  the  NoteJet  plugs 
into  the  machine's  mouse-or-key- 
pad  porL  Although  Canon  calls  It 
a  trackball,  that  name  doesn't  con- 
jure an  accurate  mental  picture  of 
what  it  really  looks  like.  A  palm- 
size  unit,  the  device  connects  to 
the  machine's  port  via  a  24-inch 
cable.  You  use  your  thumb  to  con- 
trol a  marble-size  ball  while  your 
index  and  ring  fingers  activate 
the  dual  buttons  at  the  front  of  the 
unit,  mounted  one  on  top  of  the 
other.  At  first  this  configuration 
seems  awkward,  especially  if 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        19 


TEST  LAB 


you're  accustomed  to  a  desktop 
mouse  or  a  large-ball  device,  but 
you  get  used  to  it  after  a  short 
wtiile.  If  there's  one  weak  spot  in 
an  otherwise  excellent  machine, 
I  think  it's  this  pointing  device.  Of 
course,  you  can  always  substi- 
tute another  pointing  device 
more  to  your  (iking. 

The  LCD  screen  displays  16  lev- 
els of  gray  at  640  x  480  resolution, 
and  you  can  plug  an  external 
SVGA  monitor  into  the  notebook 
via  the  15-pin  D  connector  locat- 
ed at  the  rear  of  the  unit. 

The  Canon  NoteJet  486  is  a 
very  good  Windows-ready  com- 
puter for  people  on  the  go  who 
want  to  have  a  printer  avail- 
able whenever — and  wherever — 
they  compute. 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  372 

EPSON  ACTIONNOTE 
4SLC/25 

A  truly  compact  notebook  PC 
that  has  a  good  assortment  of 
standard  features,  Epson's  Action- 
Note  4SLC/25  is  convenient  to 
tote,  provides  good  performance. 


EPSON  AMERICA 
20770  Madrona  Ave. 
Torrance,  GA  99503 
(800)922-8911  (in  USA) 
(800)  463-7766  (In  Canada) 

Estimated  street  price:  $1,429  witti 
80MB  drive;  31,499  with  120IVIB 
drive;  81,699  wittt  120IVIB  drive  and 
fax/data  modem 

Warranty:  one  year,  parts  and  latior; 
includes  on-site  service 


and  is  easy  on  the  wallet. 

With  a  textured,  charcoal  gray 
case,  the  stylish  ActionNote  is  the 
thinnest  notebook  covered  here, 
measuring  just  a  tad  over  1 .5  inch- 
es thick  with  its  lid  closed.  It  has 
a  footprint  just  slightly  larger  than 
a  sheet  of  letter  paper,  measuring 
8,7  X  11  inches;  and  with  a  weight 
of  only  5.5  pounds  with  its  recharge- 
able nicad  battery  installed,  it's 
certainly  no  burden  to  take  along 
with  you. 

A  Logitech  TrackMan  trackball, 
included  as  standard  equipment 
with  the  ActionNote,  plugs  into  a 
mouse-or-keyboard  port  on  the 
left  side  of  the  machine.  You  also 


CRTS  MIPS  TEST  AVERAGES 

The  CPT5  MIPS  TbsIs  arc  a  series  of  proprietory  tesis  which  measure  the  system's  speed  in  MIPS 
(Millioits  of  Imtrutllons  Per  Second)  to  give  o  numerical  profile  of  its  performonce.  The  tests  lime  ond 
(ount  general  instructions,  ifileger  instiudions,  memory-to-meraory  operations,  raemory-lo-regisler 
operations,  ond  reglster-to-regisler  operations,  and  they  aDtomottcolly  cobkite  M!PS  (ask  averages 
based  on  these  disirete  test  results. 


Better 


10 


"■5 
S 
■a 


4- 


WorsB 


2 


n 


^  % 


20        COtvlPUTE     SEPTEMBER  1993 


get  a  good-quality  compart- 
mented  carrying  case  as  part  of 
the  standard  package,  along  with 
a  mouse-or-keyboard  adapter  for 
the  machine's  PS/2-$tyle  port. 

The  standard  4rvlB  of  RAM  will 
meet  the  computing  needs  of 
many  of  COMPUTE'S  readers;  if 
necessary,  however,  you  can 
expand  the  memory  to  8MB.  The 
ActionNote  includes  256K  of  vid- 
eo RAM  and  uses  a  paper-white, 
two-lilm  CCFT  (Cold  Cathode 
Fluorescent  Tube)  backlit  mono- 
chrome LCD  which  measures  a 
generous  ten  inches  diagonally. 
The  LCD  is  capable  of  displaying 
64  levels  of  gray  at  320  x  200  res- 
olution and  32  levels  of  gray  at  640 
X  480.  Slider  controls  allow  you  to 
adjust  the  display's  brightness  and 
contrast,  and  a  15-pin  D  connec- 
tor lets  you  attach  an  external  moni- 
tor {simultaneous  display  of  both 
the  LCD  and  CRT  is  supported). 

The  Cyrix  486SLC  CPU  at  the 
heart  of  the  ActionNote  runs  at  25 
MHz.  To  add  number-crunching 
muscle  for  handling  more  demand- 
ing applications,  you  can  add  an 
optional  Cyrix  CX387SLC  or  Intel 
3B7SX  numeric  coprocessor. 

The  keyboard  features  a  mod- 
erately light  touch  and  short  key 
travel,  along  with  a  very  nice  feel. 
Bumps  on  the  F  and  J  keys  con- 
firm home  row  position,  and  an 
inverted-T  cursor  control  pad 
makes  moving  around  the  screen 
easy.  Epson  also  provides  an 
embedded  numeric  keypad. 

The  review  unit  came 
equipped  with  a  120MB  hard 
drive,  although  you  can  order  the 
ActionNote  with  an  BOMB  drive. 
You  can  also  install  an  optional 
nternal  2400/9600  fax/modem 


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CircJe  Reader  Service  Number  164 


TEST  LAB 


(Epson  installed  one  on  the 
review  machine}.  WinFax  Lite  and 
BitCom  come  preloaded  on 
ActionNote  configurations  or- 
dered with  the  modem  installed. 

A  row  of  LEDs  with  illuminated 
icons  below  them  lets  you  know 
the  status  of  the  power,  the  bat- 
tery charge.  AC  power  (whether 
it's  being  used),  and  floppy  and 
hard  drive  activity,  as  well  as 
whether  the  caps,  scroll,  or  numer- 
ic locks  are  in  effect. 

With  prices  ranging  from 
about  $1 ,399  for  the  base  model 
to  $1 ,649  for  the  configuration  as 
reviewed,  the  ActionNote  pro- 
vides a  way  to  get  486  process- 
ing muscle  without  breaking  the 
bank. 

Cfrcie  Reader  Service  Number  373 

IBM  THINKPAD  720C 

IBM  packs  a  lot  of  computing 
punch  into  its  ThinkPad  720C. 
For  starters,  it  has  the  biggest, 
brightest  color  LCD  I've  seen  on 
any  notebook  to  date,  and  its  IBM 
486SLC2  CPU  runs  at  a  brisk  50 
MHz.  If  I've  piqued  your  interest 
already,  read  on.  You'll  find  that 


IBM  PERSONAL  COMPUTER 
Box  100,  Route  100 
Somers,  NY  10589 
(800)  772-2227 
E9t4)  706-1900 

Direct  price:  $4,695 
Warranty:  tliree  years 


there  are  lots  of  other  desirable 
features  in  this  take-it-with-you  col- 
or notebook  from  Big  Blue. 

The  ThinkPad's  case  features 
squared  edges  and  sharp  cor- 
ners; no  frills  or  nonfunctional 
embellishments  are  to  be  found. 
That  isn't  to  say  it's  unattractive, 
however.  Quite  the  opposite  is 
true.  The  case  is  molded  in  a  hand- 
some matte  black  plastic,  which 
resists  fingerprints  well  (but  tends 
to  show  dust  and  dirt).  The  overall 
appearance  of  the  machine  tells 
you  it's  a  serious  device  that's 
ready  to  do  business- 
Lifting  the  ThinkPad's  lid  expos- 
es the  10.5-inch  TFT  (Thin  Film 
Transistor)  4096-color  LCD, 
which  is  a  joy  to  view.  The  LCD 
screen  can  display  VGA  at  640  x 
480  resolution.  Slider  controls  at 


BAHERY  DURATION  TEST 

Tlie  Botlery  Dorolion  TesI  is  performed  with  all  power-saving  functions  deodivnted  to  provide  reolfime 
chaige-litc  expecloncies  (or  the  notebooks'  boneries.  A  proprielory  program  wEiicli  (rentes,  reads,  writes, 
ond  ernses  files  ond  wriles  a  time-stonip  log  entry  ot  ibe  end  of  eacii  cycle  is  used  lo  keep  lb  CPU,  hard 
drive,  ond  video  display  busy  la  simulote  constGnt  use  during  the  test.  The  elopsed  time  between  the  start 
of  the  test  mi  i\\e  lost  recorded  log  entry  before  the  botlery  forls  totnlly  is  calculated  and  recorded. 


Better 


150 


120 


90- 


Wocse 


60 


__  ji I I I    i    _i I I I I 


"^       \\^^<^%^^\ir%%% 


»\ 


22        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


the  right  side  of  the  LCD  adjust 
brightness  and  contrast,  al- 
though I  found  the  display  to 
provide  excellent  viewing,  even  in 
bright  light,  without  my  having  to 
change  the  settings. 

Below  the  display  a  bank  of 
LED  indicators  keeps  tabs  on  the 
system's  status.  They  show  the 
status  of  the  speaker,  AC  adapt- 
er, power,  battery  hard  disk,  and 
floppy  disk,  as  well  as  the  caps, 
scroll,  and  numeric  locks. 

I  found  the  ThinkPad's  key- 
board well  laid  out  with  regard  to 
key  spacing  and  key-top  contour; 
raised  dots  on  the  F  and  J  keys 
confirm  home  row  position  for 
touch-typists,  and  there's  a  sep- 
arate tnverted-T  cursor  control  key- 
pad, as  well  as  an  embedded 
numeric  keypad. 

Just  above  the  B  key,  nestled 
between  the  bottoms  of  the  G 
and  H  keys,  is  the  ThinkPad's 
pointing  device,  an  elevated  red 
button  that  looks  like  a  pencil  eras- 
er with  a  case  of  sunburn.  Below 
the  space  bar,  at  the  edge  of  the 
case,  are  two  flat  keys,  each 
about  one  inch  long;  these  corre- 
spond to  the  control  buttons  on 
a  standard  mouse. 

While  the  idea  of  an  integrated 
pointing  device  is  good,  I  person- 
ally didn't  care  for  the  "eraser- 
ball"  built  into  the  keyboard.  For 
my  taste  (and  touch),  it  was  too 
sensitive,  and  having  the  action 
buttons  separate  resulted  in  awk- 
ward operation,  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  I  found  this  setup  anything 
but  intuitive.  I  used  the  embed- 
ded pointing  device  throughout 
the  review  to  give  it  a  fair  shake, 
but  I  must  admit  I  was  happy  to 


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Circle  Reader  Servrce  Number  161 


TEST  LAB 


get  back  to  my  desktop  PC  with 
a  trusty  oid  Microsoft  mouse 
attached  to  it. 

The  ThinkPad  720C  comes 
equipped  with  a  50-MHz  IBM 
486SLC2  CPU,  a  180MB  hard 
drive,  and  4MB  of  RAM  as  its  stan- 
dard configuration.  Two  PCMCIA 
slots  are  also  provided  to  accom- 
modate any  expansion  options 
you  may  desire.  For  power  users, 
this  machine  is  a  great  choice. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  37A 

MICRO  ELECTRONICS 
WINBOOK 

Designed  specifically  with  the 
Windows  user  in  mind,  the 
WinBook  from  Micro  Electronics 
comes  with  plenty  of  desirable 
standard  features  that  are  fre- 
quently extra-cost  options  with 
other  notebook  computers. 

Notebook  describes  the  Win- 
Book  well,  since  it  occupies 
about  the  same  amount  of  space 
as  an  average  three-ring  binder 
and  weighs  in  at  a  trim  and  easy- 
to-tote  5.4  pounds  with  its 
rechargeable  nickel-metal- 
hydride  (NiMH)  battery  installed. 

The  WinBook's  standard  con- 
figuration includes  4MB  of  RAM, 
a  120MB  hard  drive,  a  2400-bps 
modem  and  9600-bps  send/4800- 
bps  receive  fax.  For  adding  op- 
tions, there's  a  Type  II  PCMCIA 
slot,  an  increasingly  pervasive 
feature  in  this  latest  generation  of 
notebooks. 

For  its  CPU,  our  review  Win- 
Book  uses  a  33-MHz  Cyrix 
CX486SLC  rather  than  an  Intel 
chip.  Described  in  the  WinBook's 
manual  as  an  "enhanced  version 
of  the  80386  CPU,"  the  Cyrix 
chip  "includes  a  built-in  1Kbyte 
cache  to  increase  the  speed  of  da- 
ta access." 

The  overall  design  of  the 
machine  is  quite  good,  and  it's  evi- 
dent that  plenty  of  thought  went 
into  the  placement  of  various  sys- 
tem components.  For  example,  a 
trackball  is  built  into  the  WinBook; 
the  manufacturer  places  this  point- 

24        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


MICRO  ELECTRONICS 
1160  Steeiwood  Rd. 
Columbus,  OH  43Z1 2 
(8001  468-2162 
(614)  481-7460 

Suggested  retail  price:  81,799 
Warranty:  one  year,  parts  and  labor 


ing  device  conveniently  between 
the  two  wrist-support  pads  below 
the  keyboard.  About  the  size  of  a 
marble  or  gum  ball,  the  trackball 
is  flanked  by  its  two  buttons. 
While  the  trackball  eliminates  the 
need  for  an  external  mouse,  you 
can  still  use  one  if  you  want. 

Controls  for  adjusting  the  bright- 
ness and  contrast  of  the  LCD  are 
also  conveniently  located — at  the 
right  side  of  the  screen,  along 
with  LED  indicators  for  power  flop- 
py drive  activity,  hard  disk  activi- 
ty, suspend  mode,  and  the  stat- 
us of  the  Num  Lock,  Scroll  Lock, 
and  Caps  Lock  keys.  The  Win- 
Book has  an  easy-to-look-at  ten- 
inch  display;  the  512K  of  video 
memory  allows  640  x  480  reso- 
lution for  the  internal  screen  and 
1024  X  768  resolution  for  an 
external  monitor. 

Need  expansion  capabilities? 
You  can  upgrade  from  the  Win- 
Book's standard  120MB  hard 
drive  to  a  250IVIB  drive,  add  a 
math  coprocessor,  or  buy  a  dock- 
ing station  for  desktop  use;  a  160- 
pin  connector  on  the  WinBook  ac- 
commodates the  docking  station. 

The  WinBook  has  a  good  assort- 
ment of  power-saving  features 
which,  according  to  the  manufac- 
turer, will  extend  battery  life  to  a 
maximum  of  four  hours.  I  found 
the  machine  to  be  faster  and 
more  responsive  with  all  of  the 
power-saving  functions  deactivat- 
ed (this  brought  battery  life  down 
to  about  1  V?-2Vi  hours  between 
charges). 

While  the  Vi/inBook  as  re- 
viewed is  a  good  value  at  $1 ,699, 
if  that's  more  than  your  wallet  can 
handle,  Micro  Electronics  is  also 
offering  a  25-MHz  entry-level  mod- 
el of  the  WinBook,  which  has  an 


80MB  hard  drive  and  2MB  of 
RAM  without  the  fax/modem  for 
only  $1 ,499.  In  either  version,  the 
WinBook  is  an  attractive  ma- 
chine, especially  If  you  want  to 
take  your  Windows  applications 
on  the  road. 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  375 

NEC  ULTRALITE 
VERSA  25C 

This  color  notebook  offers  good 
loot^s  and  sizzling  performance. 

NEC  offers  the  UltraLite  Versa 
series  of  notebooks  in  several 
models:  20-MHz  models  are  avail- 
able with  either  color  or  mono- 
chrome displays,  while  the 
25-MHz  models  are  available  with 
both  monochrome  and  color  dis- 
plays and  with  and  without  pen 
capabilities.  The  review  unit  is  a 
25-MH2  model  based  on  the  Intel 
80486SL  CPU  and  equipped  with 
an  active  matrix  TFT  color  LCD 
screen  measuring  9.45  inches 
diagonally.  A  real  treat  for  the 
eyes,  it  can  display  256  colors  at 
640  X  480  resolution  (800  x  600 
resolution  with  256  colors  and 
1024  X  768  resolution  with  16  col- 
ors are  supported  via  externally 
connected  monitors). 

One  of  the  truly  outstanding  fea- 
tures of  the  UltraLite  Versa  25C— 
its  local-bus  video— accounts  for 
its  blistering  performance  with 
graphics-related  applications 
such  as  CAD  and  Video  for  Win- 
dows. This  machine  is  no  slouch 
when  it  comes  to  nongraphical 
chores  such  as  database  and 
word-processing  work,  either. 

Ergonomic  design  and  aesthet- 
ic appeal  are  obvious  concerns, 


and  the  UUraLite  Versa  25C  tri- 
umphs in  both  areas.  NEC  uses  an 
attractive  medium  gray  matte-fin- 
ish plastic  that  hides  fingerprints 
and  resists  scuffing  well.  A  single 
slider  control  next  to  the  screen 
adjusts  the  brightness  of  the  color 
display.  Rather  than  the  usual 
array  of  LEDs  commonly  used  for 
system  status  messaging,  the 
UUraLite  Versa  25C  uses  an  LCD 
window  which  employs  icons  to 
convey  system  information.  The 


NEC  TECHNOLOGIES 
1414  Massaciiusetts  Ave. 
Boxborough,  MA  01719 
(800)  NEC-INFO  (in  USA) 
(800)  343-4418  (in  Canada) 
(508)264-8000 

Suggested  retail  price:  $3,869  with 

iOIVIB  drive:  $4,269  with  120mB 

drive;  S4,539  witti  180IVIB  drive: 

S2,659  witti  mono  screen  and  80IVIB 

drive 

Warranty:  ttiree  years,  witli  (ree  llrsl- 

year  upgrade  to  NEC  Uitracare 


usual  items — including  floppy  and 
hard  drive  activity,  power,  power 
source,  and  battery  condition — 
are  all  indicated,  in  addition  to 
caps  and  numeric  locks. 

I  liked  the  keyboard  action  and 
key  placement,  although  I  found 
the  space  bar  to  be  considerably 
shorter  than  it  is  on  other  noiebook 
keyboards,  measuring  3.75  inch- 


es. While  this  wasn't  a  problem  for 
me,  some  users  with  big  hands  or 
wide  thumbs  may  not  find  it  to 
their  liking.  However,  other  fea- 
tures, such  as  a  dedicated  cursor 
keypad,  an  embedded  numeric 
keypad,  and  12  function  keys 
more  than  make  up  for  the  short 
space  bar.  Of  course,  you  can 
always  plug  a  full-size  keyboard 
into  the  dedicated  socket  provid- 
ed for  it  at  the  rear  of  the  machine. 

The  package  includes  a  Ivlicro- 
soft  Ballpoint  mouse,  which 
plugs  directly  into  the  dedicated 
mouse  port  (also  at  the  rear).  For 
adding  options,  the  UltraLite  Ver- 
sa 25C  also  has  one  Type  III  PC- 
MCIA slot,  which  can  accommo- 
date one  Type  III  PCfvlCIA  card 
or  two  Type  II  cards. 

NEC  has  done  a  nice  job  of 
combining  form  and  function  in 
an  attractive  notebook  with  a  su- 
perb color  display. 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  376 


NORTON  BENCHAAARKS 

The  Norton  Ulililin  6.0  served  os  on  overoll  "winilow"  for  viewing  ihe  systems'  cDnligurotions,  interruph,  ond  iriDmory  oddresses. 
litis  group  of  utililns  abo  provided  o  generic  performance  hasehe,  consisting  of  the  CPt)  speed,  the  disk  speed,  and  an  overall  index. 


Setter 


WoRe 


ilU 

r-1 

/u 

6U 

L               J 

r-| 

n 

iU   [-1 

J 

-  -n 

1 

-1 

40 

30  "    " 
20  ■    " 
10  ■    " 

1         i 

i 

.       — 

L           1 

Overall  Index 
Disk  Speed 
CPU  Speed 


^        % 


A  %   \ 


^    -^ 


^A  \  \ 


% 


SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        25 


TEST  LAB 


SAMSUNG 

NOTEMASTER 

486SLC 

Samsung  shows  lots  of  ingenuity 
and  some  novel  design  concepts 
in  its  NoteMaster  486SLC  Model 
S3800  notebook. 

This  trim  notebook  has  tasteful 
styling  and  a  dark,  charcoal 
gray,  nonglossy  finish  which 
hides  fingerprints  and  light 
scuffs  well.  Lifting  the  lid  of  the 
unit  reveals  a  ten-inch  mono- 
chrome LCD  capable  of  produc- 
ing 64  levels  of  gray  to  produce 
640  X  480  VGA  resolution. 

The  Notefvl  aster  has  256K  of  vid- 
eo RAfvl  and  allows  you  to  run  its 
display  and  an  external  SVGA  moni- 
tor simultaneously.  While  the 
display  is  certainly  large  enough, 
it  isn't  one  of  the  best  mono- 
chrome screens  I've  seen.  With 
the  brightness  and  contrast  adjust- 
ed for  comfortable  viewing,  I 
could  see  several  of  the  LCD's 
"pathways"  {intersecting  lines  in 
the  display's  background),  and  une- 
ven image  density  across  the 
screen  was  also  noticeable.  The 
shortcomings  of  this  display  aren't 
serious  enough  for  it  to  be  con- 


SAMSUNG  ELECTRONICS  AMERICA 
Information  Systems  Division 
105  Challenger  Rd. 
Ridgefieid  Park,  NJ  07660-0510 
1800)  446-0262 

Suggested  retail  price:  $1,9S9  witli 
2KIB  RAM  and  SfiMB  drive  (standard 
configuration;  $1,599  estimated 
street  price);  $2,298  witli  extra  2m 
RAM  (review  contigtiration;  $1,699 
estimated  street  price) 
Warranty:  one  year,  parts  and  labor 


sidered  defective,  but  it  did  have 
a  wearying  effect  on  my  eyes  after 
only  brief  stints  of  looking  at  it. 

The  high-density  floppy  drive 
resides  at  the  right  side  of  the 
machine  near  the  front,  while  the 
removable  2.5-inch  hard  drive 
resides  just  behind  it,  also  on  the 
right  side.  Yes,  you  read  that  cor- 
rectly— the  hard  drive  is  remova- 
ble on  the  Notefvlaster,  and  that 
is  its  most  unique  feature.  The 
advantages  of  a  removable  hard 
drive  are  many;  for  example,  if 
you  need  additional  storage,  you 
can  easily  upgrade  to  a  higher- 
capacity  (120MB)  drive. 

Using  Samsung's  Drivefvlaster 
expansion  kit,  you  can  use  the 
NoteMaster's  hard  drive  on  your 


DBASE  SORT  TEST 

Our  dotabase  tests  use  a  nonindexeil  2S,636record  dotobase  (each  record  contains  32  fieldsl.  The  Sort 
Test  times  how  long  it  tckes  fo  sort  this  database  on  a  secondary  field  arrd  creote  a  sorted  dotafaose. 

15 


Worse 


12 


1    9- 


6- 


Better 


n                F 

-j                                              r-j 

.1         .1     .     1    r-i   1 

1          1          1   1    1   1          1 

"^    \\'^<t^^r\^4^\% 


% 


^\ 


■% 


26        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


desktop  PC  to  make  data  trans- 
fer between  systems  easy;  you 
can  keep  your  data  secure  by  tak- 
ing the  drive  with  you  when  you 
leave  the  office,  or  multiple  users 
of  the  same  NoteMaster  can 
have  their  own  individual  hard 
disks.  There  are  plenty  of  other  in- 
stances as  well  in  which  the  re- 
movable drive  would  be  a  highly 
desirable  feature. 

Samsung  provides  2fyiB  of 
RAM  and  an  BOMB  hard  drive  as 
standard  equipment  on  the 
NoteMaster.  The  review  unit 
came  equipped  with  4MB  of  RAfvl 
as  requested,  and  it  also  sported 
the  optional  120MB  hard  drive. 

The  CPU  for  the  NoteMaster  is 
the  Cyrix  486SLC  running  at  25 
MHz.  You  can  add  an  optional 
Intel  80387SX  coprocessor  to 
give  the  machine  enhanced  math- 
calculating  power;  Samsung 
makes  the  installation  easy  by  pro- 
viding access  to  a  socket 
beneath  a  snap-off  plastic  cover 
on  the  bottom  of  the  case. 

You  can  also  easily  install  an 
optional  fax/modem  yourself.  To 
expand  the  computer's  memory 
you'll  use  proprietary  memory 
modules  that  simply  snap  into  a 
compartment  adjacent  to  the 
modem  space.  RAM  can  be 
expanded  to  a  maximum  of  8MB. 
No  PCMCIA  slots  are  provided. 

The  NoteMaster  486SLC  Mod- 
el S3800  is  a  good  choice  if  you 
like  the  convenience  of  a  remov- 
able hard  drive,  especially  if  you'll 
be  using  it  with  an  external  moni- 
tor most  of  the  time. 

Circle  Header  Service  Number  377 


Move  faster 


// 


Fly  higher. 


Higher.  Faster.  Farther. 
CH  Products  is  defining  new 
standards  of  design  and 
performance  for  computer  pilots. 
We'll  empower  you  to  effortlessly 
relay  commands  with  a  feel  of 
absolute  control.. .to  swoop,  loop 
and  soar  like  never  before. 

Get  your  hands  on  the 

red-hot  precision 
FLIGHTSTICK™  series  joysticks.  Or 
our  lightning-fast  GAMECARD  3 
AUTOMATIC^".  And  VIRTUAL 
PILOT™,  a  yoke  that  will  defy  your 
concept  of  reality.  And  there's 
more  on  the  horizon.    __  ■      ->       _«.■_ 

l^each  farther. 


From  drawing  board 
to  your  fingertips,  ours  is  a  relent- 
less pursuit  of  new  and  better 
products.  OH  Products  began  with 
a  dream  25  years  ago,  and  we've 
never  looked  back. 
Today,  we  give  you  the  wings  to  fly, 
Higher. 
Faster. 
Farther. 


PRODUCTS 


970  Park  Center  Drive    Visla,  CA  92083 
Phone: 619.598.2518   Fax:  619.59B.2524 


TM  1S93  CH  Producw.   a  Joysiick  TocJviolof^eB  Inc.  Ca. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  1SE 


TEST  LAB 


Tl  TRAVELMATE 
4000  WINSX/25 
COLOR 

If  you're  interested  in  adding 
some  color  to  your  portable  com- 
puting, backed  by  486  process- 
ing power,  then  you  may  want  to 
consider  the  TravelMate  4000 
WinSX/25  Color  notebook  from 
Texas  Instruments.  This  is  the  new- 
est addition  to  Tl's  highly  success- 
ful TravelMate  4000  series  of  486 
notebook  computers, 

The  WinSX/25's  9,4-inch  (diag- 
onally measured)  color  LCD 
screen  delivers  256  colors  simul- 
taneously at  normal  640  x  480 
VGA  resolution  and  is  supported 
with  512K  of  video  RAM.  You  can 
plug  in  an  external  Super  VGA 
monitor  and  find  support  for  the 
following  modes:  640  x  480  res- 
olution with  256  colors,  800  x  600 
with  256  colors,  1024  x  768  with 
16  colors.  Simultaneous  display 
of  both  the  LCD  screen  and  a  mon- 
itor is  also  possible. 

The  WinSX/25's  keyboard  fea- 
tures a  nice  touch  with  moderate- 
ly light  action  and  nicely 
contoured  key  tops.  Raised  dots 
on  the  F  and  J  keys  help  you  find 


TEXAS  INSTRUMENTS 
P.O.  Box  202230 
Auslin,  TX  78720-2230 
(8D0)  527-3500 

Suggested  retail  price:  $2,399 
Warranty:  one  year,  limited  parts 
and  labor 


the  home  row,  and  there's  an 
embedded  numeric  keypad  and 
a  separate  inverted-T  cursor  con- 
trol keypad.  A  color-coordinated 
Microsoft  BaHPoint  mouse  includ- 
ed with  the  WinSX/25  attaches  to 
the  QuickPort  on  the  machine's 
right  side. 

Molded  in  two  tones  of  gray, 
the  WinSX/25  is  a  tastefully 
styled  machine  that  does  a  good 
job  of  combining  form  and  func- 
tion. Dual  slider  controls  for  adjust- 
ing the  color  LCD's  brightness 
and  contrast  come  in  handy,  as 
some  adjustment  is  frequently 
required  when  ambient  light  condi- 
tions change  or  when  you  switch 
from  one  application  to  another. 
I  noticed  some  of  the  LCD's  "path- 
ways" visible  in  back  of  the  video 
image  when  the  brightness  of  the 
display  was  turned  up  all  the  way, 
and  color  saturation  wasn't  perfect- 
ly even  across  the  full  width  of  the 


TEXT  TEST 

Using  m  BO-pige  Microsofi  Word  text  document,  the  Text  Test  times  bow  long  it 
takes  to  search  and  replace  a  keyword  occurring  1423  iimes  in  the  douimenl. 
20 1 ' 


Woru 


15 


10 


Better 


xIL 


^  W'^ -A^^r  \4,x\ 


% 


^\ 


%  % 


28        COMPUTE    SEPTEIVIBER  1993 


screen  (these  are  characteristics 
of  passive  matrix  color  displays). 
The  standard  configuration 
includes  4MB  of  RAM,  which  you 
can  increase  to  a  maximum  of 
20MB.  A  120MB  hard  drive  and 
a  front-mounted  1.44MB  floppy 
drive  also  come  standard.  One  of 
the  upgrade  options,  a  14,400- 
bps  V,32bis  modenn  with  9600- 


NOTEBOOK  PC 

TRAVEL  KIT 

Want  to  get  the  most  out  of  your  lap- 
top or  notebook?  Today's  portable 
computers  are  great,  but  if  you're 
like  most  people  who  compute  on 
the  go,  you  need  accessories.  Luck- 
ily, Microcomputer  Accessories  tias 
assembled  a  compact  kit  of  ten 
essentials  for  laptop  anci  notebook 
users. 

The  kit  lias  a  suggested  retail 
price  of  $29.95  and  includes  a  flat- 
ribbon  parallel  cable  for  connecting 
your  portable  to  a  borrowed  printer; 
a  12-foot  telephone  cord,  a  modular 
Y  adapter,  and  a  male-to-male  con- 
nector for  connecting  your  modem; 
a  combination  Phillips-fiat  blade 
screwdriver;  an  illuminated  magni- 
fying glass;  reusable  cable  ties;  two 
sizes  of  removable  white  labels; 
five  strips  of  clear  tape  for  affixing 
your  business  card  to  all  your  hard- 
ware; and  a  reference  card  with 
phone  numbers  for  common  E-mail 
and  online  services.  Ail  this  fits  neat- 
ly in  a  7-  X  8-inch  nylon  pouch  (with 
room  left  over). 

For  more  information,  contact  Micro- 
computer Accessories  at  9920  La 
Cienega  Bouievard,  tnglewood,  Cali- 
fornia 90308-7032,  or  call  (800)  521- 
8270  or  (310)  645-9400, 

—PHILLIP  MORGAN 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  381 


bps  send-and-receive  fax  capa- 
bility, plugs  Into  an  internal  slot 
provided  on  all  of  the  TravefMate 
notebook  models. 

A  proprietary  expansion  bus 
built  into  the  rear  of  the  machine 
lets  you  connect  additional  exter- 
nal peripherals;  when  not  in  use, 
this  bus  is  concealed  from  view  by 
a  snap-off  panel  door.  All  of  the  1/ 
O  connectors  (serial,  parallel, 
mouse,  and  externai  video  ports) 
reside  on  the  left  side  of  the  note- 
book beneath  a  drop-down  panel. 

The  WinSX/25's  Drop  N*  Go  soft- 
ware utility  is  particularly  useful, 
permitting  accelerated  access  to 
your  applications  and  thus  saving 
both  time  and  battery  life.  With  all 
of  Tl's  power-saving  features 
enabled,  battery  life  can  exceed 
four  hours,  depending  on  the 
type  of  computing  you're  doing. 
Even  with  all  of  the  power  man- 
agement features  turned  off,  the 
machine  regularly  delivered  aver- 
age work  times  of  two  hours  or 
more  during  my  review  before  I 
had  to  recharge. 

The  CPU  is  a  486SX  running  at 
25  fvlHz.  DOS  5  and  Windows  3.1 
come  preloaded  on  the  WinSX/ 
25,  so  you're  ready  to  start  doing 
useful  work  as  soon  as  you  turn 
the  power  on.  Check  it  out 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  378 


TOSHIBA  AMERICA  mFORMATION 

SYSTEMS 

Compuler  Systems  Division 

974Q  Irvine  Blvd. 

Irvine,  CA  92718 

IBOO]  334-3445 

(714]  583-3000 

Suggested  retail  price:  $3,799  with 
120MB  drive  and  color  display 


TOSHIBA  T4500C 

With  its  great  assortment  of  desir- 
able features,  Toshiba's  T4500C 
is  another  example  of  state-of-the- 
art  technology  in  a  486-based  col- 
or notebook  computer. 

The  T4500C  provides  a  bright 
and  colorful  8.5-inch  TFT  active  ma- 
trix color  display  for  working  with 
Windows  or  DOS  applications. 
Surprisingly,  Toshiba  provides  no 
discrete  controls  for  adjusting  the 
brightness  or  contrast  of  the  dis- 
play. This  didn't  prove  to  be  trou- 
blesome, however,  as  the  display 
was  sharp  and  easily  visible  even 
in  bright  light,  requiring  only  a 
slight  movement  of  the  lid  back- 
ward or  forward  to  change  the  view- 
ing angle  for  optimum  visibility. 
The  built-in  display  can  provide 
VGA  640  X  480  resolution  with  256 
colors,  while  connecting  an  exler- 


CAD  TESTS 


50 

Wone 
40 

„30 

20 

10 

Better 

0 


-| 

r 

-1 

r     1          1 

,  r 

i_  . 

1   r 

-J 

-J 

.!_ 

1    r 

CAO 
Rotation 

Graphics 
Generation 


^ 


\\ 


nal  SVGA  monitor  enables  the 
T4500C  to  produce  800  x  600 
and  1024  X  768  resolutions. 

Like  manufacturers  of  some  oth- 
er top-of-the-line  color  notebooks 
covered  here,  Toshiba  has  forsak- 
en the  traditional  LED  status  indi- 
cators in  favor  of  an  LCD  window, 
which  is  separated  into  four 
"panes."  In  addition  to  providing 
information  about  hard  and  floppy 
disk  activity,  lock  key  status,  and 
more,  the  window  also  provides  a 
countdown  clock,  which  gives  you 
a  realtime  indication  of  how  much 
operating  time  remains  under 
current  load  conditions  before  the 
nickel-metal-hydride  (NifvlH)  bat- 


CAD  TESTS 

Ttie  Graphics  Generation  Test  times 
thie  load  of  a  complex  color  graphic 
file  with  thousands  of  unique  ele- 
ments, using  AutoCAD's  3-D  Con- 
cepts software.  Since  these  elements 
must  be  calculated  on  the  fly,  this  test 
is  particularly  indicative  of  the  sys- 
tem's floating-point  calculation  capa- 
bilities and  video  speed. 

The  CAD  Rotation  Test  times  how 
long  it  takes  to  rotate  and  regenerate 
a  CAD  drawing  with  57,657  elements 
in  it-  Since  these  operations  are 
intensely  numerical  in  nature,  this  test 
provides  additional  information  about 
the  system's  ability  to  process  lloafing- 
point  calculations  in  realtime,  This 
test  was  used  in  place  of  a  spread- 
sheet calculation  test,  since  ali  of 
these  486  notebooks  were  able  to  per- 
form complex  numerical  spreadsheet 
calculations  so  quickly  that  perform- 
ance differences  were  negligible. 

—TOM  BENFORD.  PflESIDEt^ 
COMPUTER  PRODUCT  TESTirjG  SERVICES 


SEPTE[\iiaER  1993     COMPUTE        29 


TEST  LAB 


tery  pack  requires  recharging. 

The  power-saving  options  are 
well  thought-out  and  easily 
accessed  via  the  machine's  set- 
up nnenus.  As  with  other  note- 
books, the  power-saving  features 
cause  some  delays  in  the  respon- 
siveness of  the  T4500C,  such  as 
when  the  hard  drive  "goes  to 
sleep"  and  takes  a  second  or  two 
to  wake  up  again  when  file  I/O 
operations  are  required 

A  Ballpoint  mouse  attaches  via 
the  machine's  QuickPort.  Although 
indeed  a  fvlicrosoft  BallPomt,  it's 
molded  in  the  same  light,  bone 
gray  color  as  the  T4500C  and 
bears  the  Toshiba  logo  instead  of 
the  fvlicrosoft  name  on  its  top  (the 
underside  identifies  it  as  a  Micro- 
soft product,  however). 

Toshiba  provides  a  single 
PCMCIA  slot  beneath  a  cover  on 
the  left  side  of  the  T4500C,  and 
a  similarly  concealed  cavity  on 
the  right  side  of  the  machine 
accepts  a  dedicated  modem 
unit.  The  unit's  1,44MB  floppy 
drive  resides  at  the  front  of  the 
machine  toward  the  right  side.  Ail 
of  the  I/O  ports  (single  serial,  paral- 
lel, mouse,  keyboard,  and  SVGA 
video)  are  hidden  behind  a  drop- 
down door  at  the  rear,  and  a  pro- 


ZENITH  DATA  SYSTEMS 
215QE.  Lahe  Cook  Rd. 
Buffalo  Grove,  tl  80089 
(800)  553-0331 
§708)  808-5000 

Direct  price:  $3,999 
Warranty:  one  year,  llmiied;  4S- 
hour  iurnaround  for  rejialrs, 
whetfier  carry-in  or  malt-In; 
30-day  money-back  guarantee 
if  purcnased  from  Z-OlflECT 


prietary  connector  for  mating  the 
T4500C  with  a  desktop  docking 
bay  is  concealed  behind  another 
panel  next  to  the  I/O  bank. 

The  T4500C  is  a  respectable 
performer  with  a  terrific  color  dis- 
play, a  comfortable  keyboard, 
great  styling,  and  excellent  expan- 
sion possibilities.  It  makes  a 
great  choice  if  you're  looking  for 
a  color  486-based  notebook. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  379 

ZENITH  Z-NOTE 
425LNC 

Its  bone  white  case  and  bold,  ver- 
ticai  lines  accented  by  embossed- 
square  designs  around  the  case 


KEYPADS  YOU  CAN  COUNT  ON 


For  all  their  power  and  convenience, 
notebooks  can  leave  you  frustrated 
when  it  comes  to  entering  numeric 
data  quickly  and  accurately.  One 
solution  is  to  attach  a  portable  nu- 
meric keypad,  such  as  those  of- 
fered by  Genovation  and  CNF, 

The  17-key  fvlicropad  from  Gen- 
ovation is  modeled  after  the  numer- 
ic pad  of  the  familiar  enhanced  AT 
keyboard.  It  attaches  to  your  com- 
puter via  a  pass-through  parallel  in- 
terface, and  there  are  serial-  and  key- 
board-port versions  as  well.  A  five- 
foot  cable  is  available  witti  Mi- 
cropad,  and  additional  options  in- 
clude a  form-fitting  polyskin  cover 
and  17  key  tops  with  clear, 
removable  lenses.  The  Micropad 
sells  for  about  $95. 

The  Numeric  Keypads  from  CNF 
also  feature  17  keys,  and  ttiey  have 


a  rated  reliability  of  a!  ieast  10  mil- 
lion keystrokes  between  failures. 
These  units  plug  into  your  PS/2  (mini 
DIN)  port  and  include  a  two-foot  ca- 
ble, allowing  them  lo  be  positioned 
on  either  the  left  or  right  side  of 
most  notebooks.  The  Numeric  Key- 
pads range  in  price  from  $69  to  $99. 
To  receive  more  information 
about  the  Micropad,  contact  Gen- 
ovation by  calling  (800)  822-4333  or 
by  writing  to  17741  Mitchell  North,  Irv- 
ine, California  92714. 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  382 

To  receive  more  information 
about  Numeric  Keypads,  contact 
CNF  at  17705  Hale  Avenue  1-1,  Mor- 
gan Hill,  California  95037.  CNPs 
phone  number  is  (408)  778-1160. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Kumber  363 

—LISA  YOUNG 


30        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


perimeter  make  the  Z-Note 
425Lnc  Model  200  a  good-look- 
er with  lots  of  great  features  that 
become  apparent  when  you 
open  this  notebook  and  turn  it  on. 

Like  other  Z-Notes  in  the  Zenith 
line,  the  425Lnc  has  an  LCD  stat- 
us panel  which  provides  informa- 
tion about  system  status  using 
icons  rather  than  mere  LEDs.  The 
display  takes  the  form  of  a  four- 
pane  LCD  "window"  in  which  graph- 
ical indicators  signify  the  status  of 
AC  power  operation,  standby 
mode,  battery  power  operation, 
hard  drive  activity,  floppy  drive 
activity,  port  replicator  attachment, 
external  CRT  enablement,  modem 
enablement,  U\N  controller  enable- 
ment, and  speaker  enablement, 
as  well  as  whether  the  Num  Lock, 
Caps  Lock,  Pad  Lock,  and  Scroll 
Lock  keys  are  active.  As  you  can 
see,  this  LCD  window  provides  a 
wealth  of  information  about  which 
features  are  enabled  or  currently 
in  use. 

A  single  indicator,  located  in  the 
center  of  the  machine  just  below 
the  display  screen,  shows  power 
status  with  the  lid  closed;  this  LED 
changes  color  according  to  the  cur- 
rent power/battery  conditions. 

The  425Lnc   uses   an   Intel 


Benchmark/performance  testing 
was  conducted  by  Computer  Prod- 
uct Testing  Services  Inc.  OPTS  is  an 
independent  testing  and  evaluation 
laboratory  based  in  Ivlanasquan,  NJ. 
Every  effort  has  been  made  to  en- 
sure the  accuracy  and  complete- 
ness o'  this  data  as  of  the  date  of  test- 
ing, Performance  may  vary  among 
samples. 


Role  Playing  Then. 


You  push  a  button.  You  open  a  door.  Leave  the  life  of  paperwork  and  laundry,  of  squalling  kids  and  car  trouble. 

Enter  new  worlds.  Of  adventure.  Horror.  Magic.  Love.  Death.  Solve  a  mystery.  Save  a  kingdom.  Live  by  your  wits,  tap 

the  reserves.  Find  out  who  you  are,  the  stuff  you're  made  of.  With  the  power  of  1300  floppies  on  a  single  disc, 

CD-ROM  LETS  YOU  ESCAPE  INTO  THE  DEPTHS  OF  YOUR  OWN  IMAGINATION. 


Role  Playing  Now. 


Video  clip,s  from  David  Lynch'.^  cult 
film  of  Prank  Herbert's  famed  sci-fi  epic 
heighten  the  reality  of  DUNE'",  as  you 
battle  to  control  production  of  the 
consciousness-expanding  spice  Melange. 


THE  7TH  GUEST™  assembles  a  cast  of  23 
actors  [  24,  including  you]  in  the  world's 
first  true  Interactive  Drama'"  set  inside 
the  haunted  hilltop  mansion  of  twisted 
loymaker  Henry  Stauf. 


In  FABLES  AND  FIENDS":  THE 
LEGEND  OF  KYRANDIA",  you  arc 

the  rightful  prince  of  Kyrandia  who 
must  recover  the  precious  Kyragem,  the 
source  of  d11  the  magic  in  the  land. 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  122 

THE  7TH  GUEST  o'd  bWroc'-wDiamoar*  fodcTofLji:^  Vnjin  G<unei  Inc.  o^d  TtiWt^.  Inc.  O  IW^  VuglnGomM,  Ik  and  Trklobi/*,  ^  AJ  rtghi,  lewived  FABtESfi  FIENDSortdTHE  lEGENDOF  KYaAN!>!A 

ai»  iroci«nvaikj  cf  W«^rt3od  SiudiiM,  lix  O  W2  Wo,!vrt»d  S^Jdlo,,  if,c  AH  iighfi  losofved,  DLINE  ii  0  hadwrafk  of  Dino  Ob  U)iWffli»i  Cotp-Mr.ci  end  ttsnwd  by  MCA/Un^wsol  Wefct,5,Ki'i-r,g.  Inc 

©  I9M0'r,oD«la,tf*fl'litCotpfxalrt)n  AH  iigk<»  rw^wed.  Deve^aped  by  Cr^  En^iiainrwnf  &^tf«^i  C  IW?3  Vtfl*,  Gam«,.  Irc  A*  i,g)iii  roicfved  ^.fglfi  li  o  ,iKj^»bfftd  rfoderrofl  of  Vnig^f,  Eni«*p(i«i.  W  trfili'j 


TEST  LAB 


^^^K^*^"" 

=^5=^r-        ■  ■  ■     ; ■ 

486  Notebook  Features 

..s/g 

AST  PowerExec 
4/2SSL  ColorPluE 

Canon  NoteJet 
48G 

Epson  ActionNote 
4SLC/25 

IBM  ThinkPad 
720C 

Micro 

Electronics 

Winbook 

Physical  Characteristics 

Dimensions 

1.98"  X  11.5"  X  8.5" 

2.2"x12.2"xl0" 

1.6"xll"x8.7" 

2.2"  X  1 1 .7"  X  8.3" 

1 .75 '  X  1 1 "  X  8,75" 

Weight  +  transformer 

7.8  ibs. 

7.7  ibs. 

6.9  ibs. 

7.6  Ibs, 

6.4  lbs. 

Weigi^t  of  extra  battery 

T.Sibs. 

1.3  ibs. 

0.75  lb. 

1.5  Ibs, 

0.9  1b. 

System  Electronics 

CPU  manuiacturer 

Intel 

Tl 

Cyrix  or  Tl 

IBM 

Cyrix 

CPU 

25-MHz  486SL 

25-MHz  486SLG 

25-MHz  486SLC 

50-MHz  486SLC2 

33-MHz  486SLG/E 

BIOS 

AST 

Phoenix 

Seiko  Epson 

IBM 

AMI 

Caciie 

8K 

IK 

IK 

16K 

IK 

Proprietary  slot  for  modem 

no 

no 

yes 

NA 

yes 

Number  of  PCMCIA  slots 

2 

2 

0 

2 

1 

Standard  RAM 

4MB 

4MB 

4MB 

4MB 

4MB 

Max  RAM 

32MB 

12MB 

8MB 

16MB 

8MB 

Display 

Type 

active  matrix  color 

monochrome 

monochrome 

active  matrix  color 

monochrome 

lliumlnatlon 

backlit 

bacWit 

backlit 

backli! 

backlit 

Max  res 

640  X  480 

640  X  460 

640  X  480 

640  X  480 

640  X  480 

Max  colofs 

256 

NA 

NA 

256 

NA 

Shades  of  gray 

NA 

16 

64  or  32 

NA 

64 

Diagonal  screen  size 

9.5" 

9,5" 

10" 

10.5" 

approx.  10" 

External  monitor  support 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Simultaneous 
display  +  external 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Modular  display 

no 

no 

no 

no 

no 

Drives 

Size  of  hard  drive 

200MB 

135MB 

120MB 

165MB 

128MB 

Floppy  drive  placement 

right  side 

left  side 

right  side 

front  left 

left  side 

input/Output         .      ;,     : 

-  J   -;:•;--:. ^^.;-v^;_oj  .    .  ;-;    t  ■ -.  ^ 

Parallel  ports 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Serial  ports 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

External  keyboard  port 

mouse/keyboard 

mouse/keyboard 

mouse/keyboard 

no 

mouse/keyboard 

Mouse  port 

mouse/keyboard 

mouse/keyboard 

mouse/keyboard 

yes 

mouse/keyboard 

Pointing  device 

Integrated  keyboard 
trackball 

mouse/trackball 

Logitech  TrackMan 

TrackPqInt  II 

integrated  Alps 
trackball 

Expansion  unit  port 

yes 

yes 

no 

yes 

yes 

External  drive  port 

no 

no 

parallel  port  doubles  as 
ext.  drive  port 

NA 

NA 

Power 

Battery  type 

nicad 

nIcad 

nicad 

NIMH 

NiMH 

Hardware  power 
management 

yes 

NA 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Software  power 
management 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Software                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 

In  addition  to  standard 
DOS  and  Windows 

AST  Online  user 
manual 

NoteJe)  software 

WinFax  Lite,  BItCom 

Prodigy  kit 

BitCom  and  BitFax 

NA=not  applicable  or  informa 

tion  on  this  feature  not  avi 

allable  at  press  lime 

32        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


Take  Control  Of  Your  Future  WiAi  A  Cokge  D^ree  M  Conputer  Science 


Now  you  can  get  the  opportunity  and  earning 
power  a  college  degree  confers— without 
leaving  home  and  without  spending  thousands 
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The  AlCS  home  study  program: 

•  B.S.  and  M.S.  college  degree  programs 

*  In-depth  courses  in  Programming 
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Many  leading  corporations  have 
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The  academic  program  includes  comprehen- 
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^5$^  Join  students 

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Thousands  of  men  and  women 
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For  a  free 
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Birmingham.  AL  35205 


AMERICAN 
INSTITUTE 

COMPUTER 
SHENCES 

'tlw  k'liding  cdfif  ojlmruing 


TEST  LAB 


486  Notebook  Features 

NEC  UltraLite 
Versa  25C 

Samsung 

NoteMaster 

4B6SLC 

Tl  TravelMate 

4000  WmSX/25 

Color 

Toshiba 
T4500C 

Zenith  Z-Note 
425Lnc 

Physical  Characteristics 

Dimensions 

2.09- X  11.69- X  9.33- 

i.a'x8.5'xir 

2.1- X  11- X  8.5- 

2-x  1 1.7- X  8.3' 

2.r  X  11.9- X  8.5- 

Weight  +  transformer 

8.1  lbs. 

5.9  lbs. 

6.3  lbs. 

6.9  lbs. 

7.5  lbs. 

Weigh!  of  extra  battery 

1  lb 

1,2  lbs 

1,35  lbs. 

1,5  lbs. 

1,ieibs, 

System  Electronics 

CPU  manufacturer 

Intel 

Cyrix 

Intel 

Intel 

Intel 

CPU 

25-MH2  486SL 

25-MHz  486SLC 

25-MHz  486SX 

25-MHz  486SX 

25-MHz  486SL 

BIOS 

Phoenix 

Phoenix 

Phoenix 

NA 

ZDS 

Cache 

8K 

1K 

8K 

aK 

8K 

Proprietary  slot  for  modem 

no 

yes 

no 

no 

yes 

Number  of  PCMCIA  slots 

2  Type  II  or  1  Type  III 

0 

0 

1 

0 

Standard  RAM 

4MB 

2MB 

4MB 

4MB 

4MB 

Max  RAfvl 

20MB 

8MB 

20MB 

20MB 

SSMB 

Display 

Type 

active  matrix  color 

monochrome 

passive  color  STN 

active  matrix  color 

active  matrix  color 

llluminalion 

sidelit 

backlit 

edgeiit 

NA 

NA 

Max  res 

640  X  480 

640  X  480 

640  X  480 

640  X  480 

640  X  480 

Max  colors 

256 

NA 

256 

256 

256 

Shades  of  qray 

NA 

64 

NA 

NA 

NA 

Diagonal  screen  size 

9.5- 

10- 

9,4" 

8,5- 

8,4- 

External  monitor  support 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Simultaneous 
display  +  external 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Modular  display 

yes 

NA 

no 

no 

yes 

Drives 

Size  of  hard  drive 

179MB 

12(]MB 

120MB 

120MB 

2Q0MB 

Boppv  drive  placement 

right  side 

right  side 

front  right 

front  nght 

right  side 

Input/Output 

Parallel  por,s 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Serial  ports 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

External  kevboard  port 

yes 

mouse/keyboard 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Mouse  port 

yes 

mouse/keyboard 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Pointing  device 

Microsoft  Ballpoint 

internal  mouse 

Microsoft  Ballpoint 

Microsoft  BallPolnl 

Logitech  TrackMan 

Expansion  unit  port 

yes  (for  docking 
station) 

no 

yes 

yes 

port  replicator 

External  drive  port 

no 

no 

yes 

yes 

no 

Power 

Battery  type 

f^iMH 

nicad 

nicad 

NiMH 

NiMH 

Hardware  power 
management 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Software  power 
management 

yes 

NA 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Software 

In  addition  lo  standard 
DOS  and  Windows 

remote  diagnostics 

NA 

Tl  utilities  (Battery  Pro. 

L^rge  Cursor.  Drop  N' 

Go,  power 

management) 

Ultrafont,  hypertext 
online  documentation 

Windows  for 

Workgroups.  Network 

Client  Shells 

NA=not  applicable  or  informa 

ion  on  this  feature  not  av 

atlable  at  press  time 

34 


COMPUTE     SEPTEMBER  1993 


vmm 


■12550 


$16.95 


43203  S19.95 


ttytb'bisK 

i         COMPA.M0N 

^ 

52392 


$24.95 


63001-2  $29.95 

(counts  as  2  choiccsl 


61957-2  S29.95 

(counU  as  2  cfaolcei) 


53645 


SI  5.00 


67517 


S16.95 


70565 


$19.95 


87487 


$21.95 


87230 


$16.95 


87148-2  $39.95 

(counts  as  2  choices) 


Take  Any 

3  BOOKS 

For  only 

SIEACH 

as  your  introduction  to  the 

PC  User's  Book  Club 

You  simply  agree  to  buy  ihree  [nore  books  —  al 
significant  sa\'inEs  —  wilhiii  the  nex!  1 2  montlis. 

(Publishers'  prices  shown.) 


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MEMBERSHIP  BENEFITS  In  addition  to  get- 
ting 3  txx)ks  for  only  S 1 .00  each  when  you  join, 
you'll  also  receive  discounts  on  books  you 
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I  buy  these  ^hKc  additional  books.  A  shipping  and 
handling  charge  is  added  to  all  shipments. 
No- Risk  Guarantee;  Ifl  am  not  satisfied — for  any 
reason — 1  may  return  my  introductory  books  withm 
10  days.  My  membership  will  be  canceled,  and  1 
will  owe  nothing. 
3  books  for  $1.00  each: 
fndicaie  hv  mimhi'r  tfjf  hiHtks  yttu  u-anr, 


A  few  expensive  boots  (a.s  noted)  count  as  more 
than  one  choice. 


Name 

Address . 
City 


Apt.. 


State  _ 


Zip. 


(Books  purchased  for  professional  purposes  may  tje  a 
ta^ -deductible  expense.  Offer  gixn  in  U.S.  and  Canada 


■g< 
onlv.  Pric&s  slightly  higher  in  Canada-) 
Compute  9/93 


B-BD5 


TEST  LAB 


80486SL  CPU  running  at  25  MHz 
as  the  source  of  its  computing 
power  and  comes  witli  4MB  of 
RAM  as  the  standard  comple- 
ment; for  ttiose  wlic  need  more 
oompSi,  the  RAM  can  be  expand- 
ed up  to  28MB.  No  PCMCIA  slots 
are  provided  on  the  425Lnc. 

A  few  words  about  the 
425Lnc"s  comfortable  keyboard 
are  in  order  here,  since  it  is  one 
of  the  best  keyboards  I've  come 
across  on  a  notebook  or  laptop 
PC.  The  key  tops  themselves  are 
gently  contoured  with  softly  round- 
ed edges  that  fit  the  fingertips 
well.  The  action  is  firm,  not 
"mushy."  and  fast  touch-typists 
wiir  find  it  a  joy  to  use.  The 
embedded  numeric  keypad  and 
dedicated  cursor  direction  keys 
complement  the  alphanumeric 
keys,  and  the  F  and  J  keys  have 
raised  dots  on  them  for  confirm- 
ing home  row  position. 

Data  input  doesn't  end  with  the 
keyboard,  however,  and  Zenith 
covered  thai  end  well  by  provid- 
ing a  Logitech  TrackMan  pointing 
device,  which  conveniently  clips 
onto  either  side  of  the  425Lnc. 
The  notebook  also  comes 
equipped  with  a  dedicated  PS/2 
mouse  port,  which  accepts  the 
plug  from  the  TrackMan's  cable 


to  make  using  Windows  and  oth- 
er GUI-based  applications  more 
efficient.  The  TrackMan's  color  per- 
fectly matches  that  of  the 
425Lnc,  and  the  turquoise-col- 
ored trackball  "works"  with  the 
blue-green  color  of  the  Zenith 
logo  on  the  notebook. 

Color  plays  a  big  part  in  the 
425Lnc,  since  it  comes  equipped 
with  a  TFT  active  matrix  color  dis- 
play, which  measures  almost  8.5 
inches  diagonally  The  display  is 
clear  and  bright,  providing  640  x 
480  VGA  resolution  internally;  if 
you  plug  an  external  SVGA  moni- 
tor into  the  425Lnc.  you  can  use 
resolutions  of  800  x  600  with  256 
colors  or  1024  x  768  with  16  col- 
ors. While  not  the  largest  color 
LCD  I've  seen,  the  425Lnc's  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  best. 

The  Z-Note  425Lnc  is  a  good 
choice  for  discriminating  users 
who  don't  mind  spending  a  bit 
more  for  a  color  notebook  that 
performs  well. 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  360 


For  coverage  of  another 
486  notebook,  The  Gate- 
way 2000  Nomad  450DXL, 
see  the  review  section. 


VIDEO  FOR  WINDOWS 

Our  Video  for  Windows  Test  records  the  elapsed  time  required 
lo  play  D  I  MB  video  file  in  Microsoft  AVI  formol. 


Worse 


s    7 


Belter 


~| 


^-  \%^S.^\4%\S 


% 


36        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


SPEAK  UP! 


Is  there  a  group  of  hard- 
ware or  software  products 
you'd  like  to  see  covered  in 
an  upcoming  Test  Lab?  Let 
us  know  by  calling  (900) 
884-8681,  extension 
7010102  (sponsored  by 

Pure  Entertainment, 
P.O.  Box  186,  Hollywood, 
California  90078}.  The  call 

will  cost  95  cents  per 

minute,  you  must  be  18  or 

older,  and  you  must  use 

a  touch-tone  phone. 


A  NOTE  ON  PRICES 

With  computer  products  changing 
more  rapidly  than  ever  and  with 
options  more  plentiful  than  ever, 
computer  prices  can  be  a  tricky 
business,  indeed. 

It  pays  to  keep  the  following 
points  in  mind: 

Street  and  direct  prices  can  be 
considerably  lower  than  list  prices. 
Shopping  around  helps  you  find 
the  best  price. 

Because  computer  technology 
evolves  rapidly,  a  product  may 
have  changed  by  the  time  our  re- 
view sees  print.  A  manufacturer  may 
decide  to  change  the  software  or 
the  hard  drive,  for  example. 

Because  consumers  are  more 
sophisticated  than  ever  about  what 
they  want  in  computer  products  and 
because  manufacturers  have 
responded  with  more  options  and 
configurations  than  ever,  one  com- 
puter model  may  be  subject  to  doz- 
ens of  variations,  each  with  a  slight- 
ly diffarant  price. 

At  COIvlPUTE,  we  make  every  ef- 
fort to  verify  prices  and  differentiate 
between  the  price  for  a  review 
configuration  and  the  price  for  a 
standard  configuration,  it's  still  a 
good  idea,  however,  to  call  the 
manufacturer  or  vendor  to  make 
sure  that  the  configuration  you 
want  matches  the  price  you  have 
in  mind. 

—MIKE  HUDNALL 


You've  heard  about  tl,  you've  read  about  it,  now  expe- 
rience the  bfeakthrough  of  Microsoft's-  Flight  Simulator' 
V. 5.0  with  the  breathtaking  photo-realism  of  Mallard 
Software's  new  scenery. 

Never  before  seen  real-time  ray  traced  Images  take 
you  over  terrain  so  real  you'll  be  checking  for  a  seat  belt. 
Layers  of  realistic  clouds  wisp  past  your  screen  just  before 
connpletely  obscuring  your  vision.  Shadows  change 
occording  to  longitudinal  and  latitudinal  position  as  the 
seasons  and  weather  change  along  your  course. 

The  new  satellite  sceneries  will  take  you  over  our 
nation's  capital,  Washington  D.C.  and  the  natural  vistos 
of  the  west  coast;  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles  ond 
San  Diego.  These  images  ore  so  detailed  and  so  real, 
you'll  see  w/hat  it  rea//y  means  to  have  a  bird's  eye  view. 

So  look  for  Mallard  to  bring  you  the  nnost  exciting  new 
products  in  the  coming  months  that  will  keep  you  on  the 
edge  of  your  seat  and  above  all  the  rest. 


Mjilkd. 

For  more  information  or  to  order  coil 

l-80aWEB^FEET 

e  1 W3  Molbrd  SoKvoce,  Inc 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  138 


NEWS  &  NOTES 


Jill  Champion 


Leaping  lizards 

make  Arts  & 

letters  Jurassic 

ART  from 

Computer  Support 

a  sure  bet. 


38 


No  More  Blandsiapes 

No  more  staring  at  a  boring 
monitor,  now  that  Screenies 
have  arrived.  These  illustrated 
frames  for  your  screen,  burst- 
ing with  color,  will  rescue  you 
from  "the  visual  monotony*'  of 
your  putty-colored  monitor 
and  "individualize  your  work- 
space at  home  and  at  the  of- 
fice," says  Screenies  inventor 
Rusty  Schwartz,  who  also 
owns  an  art  gallery  in  Sono- 
ma, California. 

Choosing  from  the  51 
Screenies  in  the  introductory 
First  Edition  Collection,  for 
whicfi  many  of  America's  top 
illustrators  were  commis- 
sioned, you  can  frame  your 
monitor  with  a  space  station, 
inquisitive  news  media,  mis- 
chievous kitties  at  the  cat 
box,  children  at  school,  a  rain 
forest,  even  Ren  &  Stimpy — 
and  much  more. 

Functional  Screenies  in- 
clude a  corkboard  for  posting 
notes,  a  dry-erase  memo 
board,  and  a  photo-frame  col- 
lection. A  line  of  holiday 
Screenies  is  currently  in  pro- 
duction. Each  design  is  mount- 
ed on  sturdy  yet  flexible  art 
board,  varnished  for  protec- 
tion, and  packaged  in  a  reseal- 
able  vinyl  envelope.  At 
$11.95  each,  the  Velcro-af- 
fixed  frames  are  infinitely  inter- 
changeable. 

Look  for  this  new  trend  in 
"computerwear"  at  computer 
supply  stores  and  gift  and  sta- 
tionery shops  across  the  U.S. 
For  more  information,  contact 
Screenies,  18971  Sonoma 
Highway,  Sonoma,  California 
95476;  (707)  939-6060,  (707) 
939-6065  (fax). 


Double  Protection 

Notebooks  and  laptops  don't 
have  to  take  a  beating  during 
travel.  Colorado-based  Double- 
case  manufactures  a  line  of 
Eurodesigned  attache-style 
cases  that  offer  extra  protec- 
tion for  your  delicate  equip- 
ment. What's  special  about 

COMPUTE     SEPTEMBER  1993 


the  Doublecase  line  is  that 
each  piece  is  engineered  as 
a  case  within  a  case,  with  a 
double  wall  of  tough,  high-im- 
pact polyethylene  that  traps  a 
cushion  of  air  for  extra  protec- 
tion from  impact.  The  most  ver- 
satile Doublecases  are  mod- 
els NB-360Q  and  NB-4600, 
which  allow  you  to  easily  cus- 
tomize your  case  interior  by  re- 
moving small  cubes  of  foam. 
And  these  two  are  big 
enough  to  hold  17-  x  11 -inch 
notebook  computers  plus  ac- 
cessories. The  NB-4600  does 
double  duty  as  a  briefcase, 
with  extra  compartments  for 


files,  pens,  and  cards.  Double- 
case  prices  range  from  $60 
to  S200.  For  more  information, 
contact  Doublecase,  5350 
North  Academy  Boulevard, 
Colorado  Springs,  Colorado 
80918;  (800)  475-0707,  (719) 
594-9331  (fax). 

Now  Hear  This 

Wouldn't  it  be  nice  to  tell  your 
computer  what  to  do?  Voice 
Blaster  from  COVOX  lets  you 
do  just  that  by  adding  power- 
ful voice  recognition  capabili- 
ties to  popular  sound  cards 
and  keystroke-intensive  appli- 
cations. This  is  an  easy-to- 
use,  entry-level  product  rather 
than  an  expensive,  high-end 
technology  that's  difficult  to 
learn  and  implement.  It's  de- 
signed to  increase  your  per- 
sonal productivity  by  adding 
a  voice  command  interface 
that  can  be  tied  to  keyboard 
and  mouse  macros. 

Corporate  PC  users,  hobby- 


ists, PC  game  players,  and 
program  developers  ail  can 
add  voice  commands  to 
more  than  1000  DOS  and  Win- 
dows business,  educational, 
and  entertainment  software  ti- 
tles, including  dBASE,  Fox- 
Pro, Quattro  Pro,  Quicken, 
WordPerfect  5.1,  and  Auto- 
CAD as  well  as  games  from 
Electronic  Arts,  GameTek,  Lu- 
casArts  Entertainment,  Micro- 
Prose,  Sir-Tech,  and  Villa  Cres- 
po.  The  system  includes  a 
high-fidelity  headset  (with  a  mi- 
crophone and  speaker)  that 
connects  to  your  computer 
via  the  parallel  port.  '\/oice 
Blaster  also  works  with  a  vari- 
ety of  existing  PC  microphone 
systems  and  improves  record- 
ing capabilities  on  most  pop- 
ular sound  boards.  It  requires 
a  Sound  Blaster-compatible 
sound  board.  Suggested  re- 
tail phce  is  $119,95. 

If  you  would  like  to  know 
more,  contact  COVOX,  675 
Conger  Street,  Eugene,  Ore- 
gon 97402;  (503)  342-1271, 
(503)  342-1283  (fax). 

Hot  Chip,  Cool  Solution 

If  your  machine  uses  one  of 
the  new  Intel  Pentium  chips, 
you  could  have  a  hot  problem 
on  your  hands.  The  elevated 
temperature  of  an  uncon- 
trolled Pentium  can  cause  sys- 
tem halts,  UAEs  in  Windows, 
hard  drive  data  corruption, 
and  total  loss  of  data. 

PCubid's  Pentium  CPU  Kool- 
er,  installed  on  the  Pentium 
chip,  provides  an  environ- 
ment fully  compliant  with  In- 
tel's specifications  for  thermal 
control.  Incorporating  a  cus- 
tom-machined heat  sink  and 
a  miniature  fan,  the  CPU  Kool- 
er  includes  a  temperature- 
probe  port  that  allows  you  to 
add  Radio  Shack's  Micronta 
digital  thermometer  as  an  op- 
tional accessory  for  measur- 
ing the  heat  sink  temperature 
to  ensure  that  the  Pentium  is 
being  adequately  cooled. 
With  or  without  the  tempera- 


The  best  sound  is  not  in  the  cards. 


Perk  up  your 
presentations.  IVlake 
training  nnore  effective. 
And,  put  some  guts 
into  your  gaming 
pastimes.  Anytime. 
Anywhere.  Intact,  if  you 
are  not  a  card  carrying 

member  of  the  computer  set,  you  have  to  hear 

PORT-ABLE  Sound  Plus  from  DSP  Solutions. 

You  know,  those  real  smart  people  who  make 

simple  sound  solutions. 

PORT-ABLE  Sound  Plus  is  the  first  portable 

external  sound  peripheral  to  deliver  16  Bit  CD 

quality  music  with  stereo  audio  capabilities. 

And,  since  you  just  plug  into  your  IBlVl  PC  or 

compatible,  desktop  or  laptop  parallel  port,  you 

do  not  need  an  engineering  degree  or  even  a 

screwdriver. 

When  you  compare 

PORT-ABLE  Sound  Plus  to 

any  other  external  sound 

peripherals,  you  will  see 

why  anything  else  is  just 

noise,  PORT-ABLE  Sound 

Plus  is  based  on  advanced 

Digital  Signal  Processing 

technology,  so  you 

will  enjoy  the  greatest 


compression  capability  with  the  highest  quality 
sounds.  Here  is  something  else  that  will  tie  music 
to  your  ears.  PORT-ABLE  Sound  Plus  comes 
complete  with  everything  you  need  including  a 
high  fidelity  speaker  and  built-in  microphone. 
There  is  an  "Audio-in"  for  a  CD  or  tape  player 
and  a  "Line-ouL'  for  external  powered  stereo 
speakers.  Even  a  built-in  smart  parallel  port  pass 
through  so  you  can  keep  printing. 

Whether  you  take  your  work  across  the  hall 
or  across  the  country,  with  PORT-ABLE  Sound 
Plus,  you  have  all  the  cards  you  need  to  play 
right  in  your  hip  pocket.  The  hinged  design  lets 
you  flip  up  the  unit  if  you  are  short  on  desk  space 
or  lap  space.  And,  the  power  will  always  be  with 
you  whether  you  use  rechargeable  or  non- 
rechargeable  AA  batteries.  PORT-ABLE  Sound 
Plus  also  comes  equipped  with  an  AC/DC  power 
converter, 

As  a  bonus,  you  will  get 
all  the  software  you  need  to 
communicate.  Like  Lotus 
Sound  "an  OLE  server  for 
Windows  3.1.  WinReader  for 
Windows  3.1,  a  handy  text- 
tchspeech  utility.  DSP  Solution's 
DOSTalk  and  DOSReader 
text-to-speech  applications. 
Show  &  Tell  For  Kids"' for 


Windows  -  an  easy  to  use  IVIulfilviedia  Authoring 
program.  It  is  also  Sound  Blaster  and  AdLib 
compatible. 

Why  compromise  on  quality,  portability, 
compatibility  or  affordability?  When  all  the  cards 
are  on  the  table,  PORT-ABLE  Sound  Plus  from 
DSP  Solutions  is  your  ace  in  the  hole.  Suggested 
retail  is  only  $198.95. 


To  order  or  obtain  more  information  about 
PORT-ABLE  Sound  Plus,  write  Of  call  DSP 
Solutions,  or,  contact  your  local  dealer. 

Sales  Office:  550  iVlain  Street,  Suite  J,  Placervllle, 
Califomia  95667.  Telephone:  (916)  621-1787. 
Fax  (916)  621-2093. 


NEWS  &  NOTES 


Balance  the  budget, 

capture  your 

screens,  and  cool 

your  Pentium. 


ture  probe,  however,  PCu- 
bid's  Pentium  CPU  Kooler 
solves  the  temperature  con- 
trol problem  for  the  Pentium 
chip — and  at  a  very  afforda- 
ble price.  Available  direct 
from  PCubid,  the  Pentium 
CPU  Kooler  is  $39.95,  Micron- 
ta  Digital  Thermometers  can 
be  purchased  at  Radio 
Shack  stores  for  about 
$15.00.  For  more  information, 
contact  PCubid,  6705  Silver- 
thorne  Circle,  Sacramento,  Cal- 
ifornia 95842:  (916)  338-1338 
{voice  or  fax). 

Jurossic  Art 

Take  a  walk  through  fh/s  Juras- 
sic park — er,  art — and  you'll 
see  velociraptors  dancing, 
not  the  vicious  killers  that  run. 
loose  in  Michael  Crichton's 
bestseller  Arts  &  Letters  Juras- 
sic ART  a  complete  drawing 
program  from  Computer  Sup- 
port, incorporates  the  compa- 
ny's new  Hex-Art  technology, 
which  allows  you  to  actually 
customize  its  hundreds  of  col- 
orful, detailed  clip  art  images 
of  dinosaurs.  The  program  al- 
so includes  an  exceptionally 
well  illustrated  informational 
booklet.  The  Age  of  Dino- 
saurs, and  an  online  data- 
base that  provides  instant  ac- 
cess to  dinosaur  facts,  charts, 
paleontoiogical  terms,  and 
maps  showing  (fay  state) 
where  dinosaur  tracks,  quar- 
ries,-and  exhibits  can  be 
found. 

What's  more,  when  you  pur- 
chase Arts  &  Letters  Jurassic 
ART,  a  portion  of  the  sales 
will  be  contributed  to  "Quest 
for  the  African  Dinosaur"  spon- 
sored by  the  Institute  for  the 
Study  of  Earth  and  Man  (IS- 
EM).  ISEM  is  raising  funds  to 
bring  the  fossilized  skeleton 
of  a  new  type  of  dinosaur 
from  Malawi,  in  Africa,  to  the 
United  States,  where  it  will  be 
reassembled  and  a  model  of 
it  made. 

Once  Malawisaurus  comes 
to  life  in  model  form,  the  orig- 


inal skeleton  will  be  returned 
to  the  citizens  of  Malawi  and 
supervised  by  Malawian  pale- 
ontoiogists  trained  under  the 
ISEM  program. 

Arts  &  Letters  Jurassic  ART 
retails  for  $59,95.  If  you 
v^ould  like  more  information, 
contact  Computer  Support, 
15926  Midway  Road,  Dallas, 
Texas  75244;  (214)  661-8960, 
(214)  661-5429  (fax). 

It  Can  Be  Done 

Can  the  federal  budget  be  bal- 
anced? Congress  says  no, 
but  consumers  say  yes.  Ban- 
ner Blue  released  its  Uncle 
Sam's  Budget  Balancer  soft- 
ware last  fall,  offering  it  free  to 
all  consumers  as  a  public  serv- 
ice to  help  increase  American 
taxpayers'  awareness  of  the 
budget  crisis.  Banner  Blue 
says  the  response  was  out- 
standing. Results  from  the 
company's  customer  survey 
show  that  while  many  of 
those  who  used  the  program 
are  pessimistic  about  the  gov- 
ernment's current  solutions  to 
the  budget  problem,  52  per- 
cent of  those  who  tried  the  pro- 
gram have  already  balanced 
the  budget  themselves.  For 
those  who  want  to  tackle  fis- 
cal year  1994,  Banner  Blue  is 
offering  an  upgraded  version 
of  Budget  Balancer  for 
S19.99  plus  $4.00  shipping 
(39500  Stevenson  Place, 
Suite  204,  Fremont,  California 
94539;  510-794-6850,  510- 
794-9152  [fax]). 

One  response  from  a 
Brooklyn  Park,  Minnesota,  cus- 
tomer summed  up  the  feeling 
for  most  users — and  probably 
most  frustrated  American  tax- 
payers: "The  program  al- 
lowed me  to  see  that  a  work- 
able solution  to  the  budget 
problem  is  possible  ...  so 
why  can't  the  government 
come  up  with  a  soiution?" 

Capture  It  All 

Screen  shots  don't  have  to  be 
a  hassle.  Collage  Complete, 


the  easy  new  screen-capture 
program  from  Inner  Media,  is 
a  complete  image-handling 
system  for  both  DOS  and  Win- 
dows that  captures,  converts, 
and  catalogs  images  fast.  Cap- 
ture all  or  a  cropped  portion 
of  a  screen — with  or  without 
the  cursor — in  one  of  numer- 
ous formats  supported,  includ- 
ing PCX,  TIF,  GIF,  Targa, 
BMP,  and  JPEG,  in  color, 
black-and-white,  and  dithered 
or  true  gray.  The  program's 
unique  "countdown"  timer  al- 
lows you  to  make  your  picture 
just  right,  and  with  Preview 
mode,  you're  sure  to  save  the 
right  screen  the  first  time 
around. 

Use  the  image-cataloging 
system  to  group,  save,  and  re- 
trieve related  images,  and 
then  view  them  as  a  collec- 
tion of  thumbnails  for  easy  se- 
lection, conversion,  or  print- 
ing. Borders  of  any  color  can 
be  added,  as  well  as  text,  rec- 
tangles, and  other  objects.  A 
powerful  set  of  batch-style  op- 
erations allows  you  to  modify 
and/or  print  several  images  in 
one  operation.  Coliage  Com- 
plete fully  supports  Windows 
3.1  Drag  &  Drop,  Twain  scan- 
ners, Kodak  Photo  CD-ROM 
images,  and  much  more. 
Easy  enough  for  anyone  to 
use,  Collage  Complete  retails 
for  S199.  Current  owners  of 
Coilage  Plus  can  upgrade  di- 
rectly through  Inner  Media  for 
$59.  For  more  information,  con- 
tact Inner  Media,  60  Plain 
Road,  Mollis,  New  Hampshire 
03049;  (800)  962-2949,  (603) 
465-7195  (fax). 


Companies  or  public  reiations 
firms  with  items  suitable  for 
"News  &  Notes"  sfiouid  serjd 
information  along  with  a  color 
slide  or  transparency  to  News 
&  Notes,  Attention:  Jill  Cham- 
pion. COr^PUTE,  324  West 
Wendover  Avenue,  Suite  200, 
Greensboro,  North  Carolina 
27408.  a 


40        COMPUTE     SEPTEMBER  1993 


Only  ICS  j^iies yoii  the  nmsl pouerjul lliM-coinpnIible .jS65A' coiiipiiter  tirailabk'  in  any  Desktop  Fitblishing  &  Design  Course! 


Get  into  a  money-making  career  in 
Desktop  Publishing  &  Design 


The  U.S.  Dept.  of  Labor  stales  that  many  highly- 
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DTP  Career 

Opporiunilies 

Manual 

tiivcs  \:ilu3b]e  advice  on 
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circle  Header  Service  Numtjer  110 


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I    design.  1  undersiand  there  is  no  ohligation  and  no 
saksman  will  visit  me-  S 

I  Name 

I  Addre.ss 

I  Ciiy/Siate_ 

I  I'hcne  ( 


-^  Age  . 
Apt,  *  . 

.ap — 


FEEDBACK 


Screens  you  can  use, 

sorts  you  can 

count  on,  ports  you 

can  find,  mice 

you  can  program,  and 

applications  you 

can  nin  once  a  day 


Save  That  Screen 

I  want  to  save  a  screen  creat- 
ed with  a  BASIC  program  in  a 
format  that  I  can  do  some- 
thing with. 

JIM  BROWN 
ATLANTA,  GA 

Here's  a  routine  written  in  DBA 
SIC  that  saves  whatever's  on 
the  screen  as  a  BMP  file,  the 
kind  of  file  you  could  use  as  a 
Windows  wallpaper  file  or 
load  Into  Windows  Paintbrush 
(or  any  program  that  can 
load  a  BMP  file)  to  edit. 

SCREEN  12 

DIM  b(1345j,  a&(16) 

FOR1  =  OT0  15 

a&(i}  =  INT(RND  *  64)  +  INT(RND 

*  64)  *  256  +  INT(RND  *  64)  * 

65536 
NEXT 

PALEHE  USING  a&(0) 
cur=0 

REM  Place  draw  routine  here. 
REM  The  following  lines  are 
REM  3  dummy  drawing  routine 
REM  just  to  put  something  on 
REM  tlie  screen. 
FOR  I  =  0  to  639 
LIKE  (i,  0)-(l,  480),  I  AND  15 
NEXT 

GOSUB  SAVESCREEN 
END 

SAVESCREEN: 
GET  (0,  0)-(200,  16),  b 
LINE  (0,  0)-(200,  16),  0,  BF 
LOCATE  1,  1 
c&  =  a&(cur  +  15) 
b&  ^  a&(cur) 

a&(cur)  =  63  +  256  *  63  +  65536  * 
63 

a&(cur  +  15)  =  63 
PALEHE  USING  a&(cur) 
INPUT  "Filename:  ",  FILES 
a&(cur  +  15)  =  [:& 
a&(cur)  =  0 

PALETTE  USING  a&(cur) 
PUT  (0,  0),  b,  PSET 
IFIlleS=""THEN  RETURN 
OPEN  FILES  FOR  OUTPUT  AS  #1 
RESTORE  bmpdata 
FOR  i  =  0  TO  53 
READ  a:  PRINT  #1,  CHR$(a); 
NEXT 
FOR  i  =  0  TO  15 


PRINT  #1,  CHR$(((a&(cur+i)AND 

6SS36*  63)/ 65536)  '  4); 
PRINT  #1,  CHR$({(a&(cur+i)AND 

256*  63)/ 256)  *  4); 
PRINT  #1,  CHRS((a&(cur  +  i)  AND 

63)  *  4); 

PRINT  #1,  CHRS(O); 
NEXT 

points  =  "" 
GET(0,  Q)-(1D,  479),  b 
FOR  i  =  479  TO  0  STEP  -1 
c  =  (c  +  1)AND15 
L1NE(0,  4ai)-(9,  I  +  1),  c,  BF 
FOR  i  =  0  TO  639  STEP  2 
points  =  points  ^CHR$(PGINT(j,i) 

*  16  +  P0INT(j  +  1,  i)} 
NEXT 

PRINT #1,  points;  :  points  =  "" 
NEXT 
CLOSE 

PUT  (0,  0),  b,  PSET 
aJi(cur)  =  b& 
RETURN 

bmpdata: 

DATA  66,  77,  118,  88.  2,  0,  0,  0 
DATA  0,  0,  118,  0,  0,  0,  40,  0 
DATAO,  0,128,2,  0,  0,  224,1,  0 
DATAO,  1,  0,4,  0,0,  0,  0,0,  0 
DATA  88.  2,  0,  132,  61,  0,  0.  132 
DATA  61.  0,0,  0,  0.0,  0,  0.0.  0 
DATA  D,  0,  D,  0 

Sort  of  a  Problem 

I  want  to  sort  a  file,  but  not 
based  on  the  first  character  in 
each  line.  Can  you  show  me 
a  BASIC  program  that  will  ac- 
complish this? 

CHAR  THEUNE 

GROSSE  POINTE  FARMS,  Ml 

A  BASIC  program  would  be 
easy  enough  to  write,  but  why 
not  just  use  the  MS-DOS  com- 
mand SORT?  Usually  SORT 
is  used  to  arrange  files  in  al- 
phanumeric order  according 
to  the  first  character  in  each 
line,  but  this  command  is  far 
more  flexible  than  that.  To 
sort  based  on  the  second  char- 
acter in  a  line,  use  the  com- 
mand S0RT/-I-2.  To  sort  in  re- 
verse order,  use  SORT  /R. 

The  newer  versions  of  DOS 
have  help  built  in.  To  see  all 
the  things  that  SORT  can  do, 
type  sort  /?. 


BASIC  Appreciation 

I  would  like  to  express  my 
thanks  to  your  publication  for 
including  BASIC  in  its  month- 
ly coverage  of  the  computer 
world, 

I  understand  that  some  say 
that  BASIC  is  a  less-than-use- 
ful  language,  but,  speaking 
as  someone  who  uses  it  regu- 
larly and  is  constantly  study- 
ing it,  I  am  glad  that  not  all 
feel  this  way. 

I  hope  that  you  will  contin- 
ue to  cover  all  of  the  comput- 
er world  as  well  and  complete- 
ly as  you  have  in  the  past.  As 
a  reader,  I  never  stop  learn- 
ing from  your  publication. 

DIRK  R  LAUBER 

DELTA.  OH 

Remouse 

My  language  of  choice  is  BA- 
SIC. I  decided  to  make  a 
menu  program  for  running  alt 
my  other  programs.  Every- 
thing works  fine,  but  it's  key- 
board-driven, and  I'd  like  to 
make  use  of  the  mouse  in 
QBASIC.  Is  there  any  way  to 
do  this? 

MARIUS  ZYDYK 
CALGARY,  AB 

Probably  not  in  QBASIC,  but 
a  routine  for  accepting 
mouse  input  Into  QuickBASIC 
ran  in  "Tips  &  Tools"  in  April 
1992.  Here's  a  shorter  pro- 
gram for  getting  mouse  data. 
You  have  to  run  QuickBASIC 
with  the  library  QB.QLB.  To 
do  this,  start  up  QuickBASIC 
with  the  command  QB  /L 
QB.QLB. 

REM  Original  program  by 
REM  Mike  Konesky  of 
REM  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania 
'SINCLUDE:  'qb.bi' 
DECLARE  SUB  hide  () 
DECLARE  SUB  show  0 
DECLARE  SUB  getm  (k7o,  x%,  v%) 
DIM  SHARED  Inregs  AS  RegType, 
Outregs  AS  RegType 
DO 

getm  k%,  x%,  y% 
LOCATE  1,  1 


42        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


Bad  Diwin  Bagdad! 


You've  been  cast  out  of  the  palace  as  a  beggar.  The  princess  has 
turned  against  you.  The  palace  guards  want  your  head  on  a  skewer, 
And  you  haven't  even  had  breakfast  yet.  This  is  not  good.  Ji  It  gets 
worse.  One  minute  you're  fleeing  for  your  very  life  across  roof  tops. 
The  next,  you  find  yourself  washed  up  on  a  desert  island...  or  amidst 
ancient  ruins,  face  to  face  with  a  disembodied  head  (and  boy  is  it 
hungiy!),  This  is  really  not  good.*!*  You  stumble  upon  quicksand, 
serpents,  spikes,  magic  spells,  a  skeleton  Mth  a  sick  sense  of  humor, 
and  then... well... things  get  just  a  mite  tricky,  i*  Introducing 
Prince  of  Persia  2®:  The  Shadoiu  &  the  Flam^^  Some  call  it  a  dozen 
ammd  Arabian  Nights  movies  rolled  into  one.  Actually,  it's  your  worst 
Arabian  nightmare.  J*  So  get  some  sleep.  Once  this 
swashbuckler  begins,  you  may  never  sleep  again. 


^Bfoderbund 


PULSE-QUICKENING  ACTION  •  RICH  MOVIE-LIKE  STORY  AND  SOUNDTRACK  •  INCREDIBLY  REALISTIC  ANIMATIOK 

A  CINEMATIC  ACTIOK  GAME  BY  JORDAN  MECHNER  •  SUGGESTED  RETAIL  PRICE;  S69.95  (MS-DOS  VERSION).  SEE  VOIR  LOCAL  DEALER  OR  CALL 
1-800-52 1-6263  .AND  REFE R  TO  CODE  261TO  ORDER  .AT  A  25S;  S.AVINGS.  •  REQUIRES  10  MHZ  286  OR  RASTER  .\LAC HINE.  H ARD  DRIVE  AN D  VGA  REQUIRE D. 

®1 993  BrBdeibuiK)  SolMare.  Inc-  Pnnca  of  Persia  is  a  regisiefso  ifaitemarti  and  Ttie  Shattev  a  ne  Flame  is  a  ifaUemaft  of  BfKfeitRirid  Software.  All  rljnts  resamd. 
Circle  Reaider  Service  Number  245  JV 


FEEDBACK 


PRINT  x%,  y%,  k%,  "Press  both 
mousE  billons  to  end  program." 
LOOP  WHILE  k%  <>  3 
hide 
END 

SUB  gelm  (k%.  x%,  y%) 
lnregs.ax%  =  3 

CALL  INTERRUPT(&H33,  Inregs, 
Outregs) 
x%  =  Outregs. cx%/ 8  +  1 
y%  =  0utregs.dx%/8  +  1 
k%  =  Outregs.bx% 
END  SUB 

SUB  hide 
[nregs.ax%  =  2 

CALL  INTERRUPT(&H33,  Inregs, 
Outregs) 
END  SUB 

SUB  show 
Inregs. ax%  =  1 

CALL  INTERRUPT(&H33,  Inregs, 
Outregs) 
END  SUB 

An  Ez  in  Every  Port 

In  the  May  Test  Lab  on  tape  drives, 
product  information  for  the  Irwin 
EzPort  was  accidentally  left  out.  The 
250MB  EzPort  lists  for  $548,  and  a 
120MB  version  is  available  for  $448. 
For  more  information,  contact  Maynard 
Electronics,  a  division  of  Conner  Periph- 
erals, at  (800)  222-5871,  Maynard  of- 
fers a  one-year  warranty  on  the 
EzPort, 

In  the  July  issue,  the  article  on  Bl- 
OSs  is  accompanied  by  the  sidebar 
"Flash  BIOS,"  which  contains  the  state- 
ment that  updating  a  flash  BIOS  can  on- 
ly be  accomplished  with  specialized 
equipment.  That  is  incorrect.  A  flash  BI- 
OS can  be  upgraded  by  the  user,  as- 
sisted by  a  utility  that  can  be  download- 
ed from  the  computer  manufacturer's 
BBS. 

THE  EDITORS  ■ 

Better  1DAY 

Here's  a  better  solution  to  the  problem 
of  running  a  program  only  once  a  day. 
It's  better  because  it  doesn't  use  BA- 
SIC, so  it  accompiishes  in  about  3000 
bytes  what  your  solution  ("Feedback," 
April  1993)  took  80K  to  do.  There  are 
three  batch  files.  The  first  is  called 
1DAY.BAT 
44        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


©ECHO  OFF 

ECHO  I  MORE  IDATE>I@#.BAT 
CALL  !@# 

IF  NOT  EXIST  1!#.BAT  GOTO  DOIT 
CALL  ll# 

IF  %LASTDATE%==%TODAY% 
GOTO  END 
:DOIT 

ECHO  II!  %TODAY%  >  l!#,BAT 
REM  This  is  where  you  should 
REM  put  the  commands  to 
REM  run  the  programs  you 
REM  only  want  to  run  once 
REM  a  day, 
ECHO. 
:END 

SET  TODAY= 
SET  LASTDATE= 

The  second  batch  file  is  called  CUR- 
RENT, BAT 

SET  T0DAY=%4 

The  third  batch  file  is  called  MI.BAT. 
SET  LASTDATE=%1 

You  have  to  have  More  and  each 
of  these  batch  files  in  your  path 
for  the  program  to  work.  Any  programs 
you  list  where  the  REM  statements 
appear  in  1DAY.BAT  will  run  only 
once  a  day. 

R   C   MARCUS 
ST  THOMAS,  ON 

Thank  you  for  your  elegant  solution. 


Do  you  have  a  question  about 
hardware  or  software?  Or  have  you 
discovered  something  that  could  help 
other  PC  users?  If  so.  we  want  to 
hear  from  you.  Call  our  special 
'■Feedback''  line:  (900)  884-8681. 
extension  7010201  (sponsored  by 
Pure  Entertainment.  P.O.  Box  186. 
Hollywood.  California  90078).  The 
call  will  cost  95  cents  per  minute, 
you  must  be  18  or  older  and  you  must 
use  a  touch-tone  phone.  Or  write 
to  "Feedback"  in  care  of  this 
magazine.  Readers  whose  letters  or 
calls  appear  In  "Feedback"  will 
receive  a  free  COMPUTE  baseball  cap- 
while  supplies  last.  We  regret  that  we 
cannot  provide  personal  replies  to  tech- 
nical questions.  D 


EOrrOBIAL 
Editor    ClitTon  Kafnes 
Art  Director     Robin  C  Case 
Managing  Editor    Davtd  English 
Features  Editor     RobGrl  Bixby 
Reviews  Editor     Mil^e  Hudnail 
Editor,  Oazelte    Tom  Netsel 
Editor,  Amiga  Resource     Denny  Atltin 
Senior  Copy  Editor    Karen  Huffman 

Copy  Editor    Margaicl  Ramsey 
Ediloria!  Assistant    Pclty  Crilpam 
Contributing  Editors     Sylvia  Graham,  Edde  Huffman. 
Tony  Roberts,  Karen  Srepak 
interns    Phillip  Morgan,  Lisa  Young 
ART 
Assistant  Art  Director     Konnett^  A.  Hardy 
Designer    Katie  f^urdock 
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PRODUCTICW 
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ADMINISTRAnON 

President,  COO  Kalhy  Keeton 

Executive  Vice  President,  William  Tynan 
Operations 

Edilonal  Director  Keith  Ferrell 

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Office  Manager  Sybil  Agee 

Sr,  Administrative  Assistant  Julia  Fleming 

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Heceplionist  LeWarida  Fox 

ADVERTISINQ 

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Associate  Publisher    (212)  496-6100 

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THE  CORPORATION 

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David  J-  Myersan  (president  and  CEO) 

William  F.  Marlieb  (presidenl.  marketing,  sales  and  circulation) 

Palrick  J.  Gavin  (senior  vice  president  and  CFO) 

Rcfiard  Cohen  (execulrve  vice  president  and  treasurer) 

Frank  DeVino  (executive  vice  president,  graphics  director) 

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Jeri  Winston  (executive  vice  p:esidenl,  corporate  services) 

Hal  Halpner  (vice  president,  director  of  manufacturing) 

Wifllam  Tynan  (vice  president,  lecfinalogy  and  information 

services) 

ADVERTISING  AND  IMARKETING 

Sr  VP/Corp  D.I,,  New  Business  Development  Beverly  Wardale;  VP/ 
D.r ,  (3roup  A(Jveriising  Sales:  Nancy  KesienbauTi.  Sr  VP/South- 
ern  and  Midwest  Advertising  Dir ;  Peler  CSoidsman  Oifices:  New 
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0  Connell,  Exec.  Assl.  to  David  J,  Myerson:  Teri  Pisani;  Special 
A5st  to  Bob  Gucc'one:  Jane  Homirsh 


"BLTEMBBTS  IMClUBBSm  UBST  IMPBiSSi 

-COMPUTER  GAMINS  WORLD 


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ASTONIBHINB  3-0 
RAY-TnACED  BRAPHICB, 
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AND  SPeCIAt.  EFFECTS. 


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WITH  ITS  OWN  FULLY  INTERACTIVE,  SIMULATION- 
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VERY  tMASe  VOU  SEE  HERE  15  AN 
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THERE'S  ALSO  THE  FEBLINO  OF  HANOS-ON 
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SIMULATION  SO  FRIGHTENINGLY 
REAL,   YOU  WILL  BELIEVE  THE  jJL  m^^   5 

FATE  OF  THE  PLANET  LIES  "■ 

IN  YOUR  HAN05.  .   J^^SL  ~-.        \ 


FROM  NOVALOBIC,  THE  CREATORS  OF  COMANCHE^' 
MAXIMUM  OVERKILL'" 

Ulcrabacs   is   a    nraaemerk    of  ^S^^ii"-- 

NovsLogic.  Inc.   i'-tSSS,  Carrtanche 

and  Maiwmum   QveiS<in  are  cracja- 

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Circle  Reader  Seivitre  Numtxr  236 


f 


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WINDOWS  WORKSHOP 


Clifton  Karnes 


With  DoubleSpace. 

you  can  check 

on  your  free  disk 

space  and  the 

compression  ratio 

tor  any  file 

or  group  ol  files 

from  inside 

Fite  Manager. 


Last  month,  I  promised  to 
talk  about  DOS  6's  Dou- 
bleSpace, especially  as  it 
compares  to  Stac  Electron- 
ics' Stacker.  I've  been  using 
Stacker  since  version  1.0, 
and  it's  always  performed 
flawlessly.  I  have  to  admit 
that  I  was  a  little  queasy 
about  trying  a  new  compres- 
sion product,  but  I  wanted  to 
test  DoubleSpace  and  com- 
pare it  with  Stacker,  so  I  decid- 
ed to  give  it  a  try. 

For  Stacker  users,  Micro- 
soft has  a  $10  product  that 
will  convert  a  Stacker-com- 
pressed volume  to  a  Dou- 


bleSpace one  (there's  a  cou- 
pon in  your  DOS  manual).  1 
had  hoped  to  use  that  prod- 
uct to  convert  my  Stacker 
drive  to  a  DoubleSpace 
drive,  but  it  didn't  arrive  in 
time,  so  I  did  the  conversion 
the  hard  way, 

Here's  the  procedure  I  fol- 
lowed: I  backed  up  my  hard 
disk  to  tape,  reformatted  the 
disk,  installed  DoubleSpace, 
and  restored  the  tape  back- 
up. It  was  not  quite  as  simple 
as  this  sounds,  but  that's  the 
gist  of  it.  Since  I  wanted  to 
run  some  benchmarks  on  my 
Stacker  volume  before  I  refor- 
matted, I  first  optimized  the 
Stacker  dhve  and  ran  my  da- 
tabase benchmarks  and  a 
suite  of  Windows  programs.  I 
ran  each  benchmark  three 
times  and  averaged  the 
scores. 

Next,  I  backed  up  my  hard 
disk.  With  Stacker,  my  hard 
drive  is  about  400MB,  and 
the  backup  took  about  two 
hours.  Then  I  created  a  DOS 


6  bootable  floppy  and  refor- 
matted my  hard  disk  with  the 
/s  option  to  make  the  disk 
bootable. 

Before  I  could  install  Double- 
Space, I  needed  to  restore  all 
the  files  I  use  that  create  vir- 
tual drives,  because  these 
need  to  be  active  when  Dou- 
bleSpace runs  so  it  can  intel- 
ligently choose  a  drive  letter 
for  itself.  This  meant  that  I 
had  to  reinstall  my  network 
files  so  the  network  drives 
would  be  available.  I  had  to 
run  Windows  and  build  a  per- 
manent swap  file,  because 
after  DoubleSpace  was  in- 
stalled, this  would  not  be  pos- 
sible. And  I  had  to  restore 
all  my  CD-ROM  software  so 
the  CD-ROM  drives  could  be 
installed. 

After  these  files  were  re- 
stored, I  booted  up  DOS  (with 
Its  CD-ROM  drives)  and 
togged  on  to  the  network. 
Next,  I  ran  DoubleSpace  and 
followed  the  onscreen  instruc- 
tions to  build  a  compressed  vol- 
ume. DoubleSpace  works  like 
Stacker  in  that  it  creates  a  com- 
pressed drive  that  in  reality  is 
a  hidden  system  file  on  your 
physical  drive.  After  the  Dou- 
bleSpace (or  Stacker)  driver  is 
installed,  this  file  looks  just  like 
another  drive  to  your  comput- 
er. Traditionally,  the  real  drive 
is  called  the  physical  drive, 
and  the  compressed  drive  is 
called  the  logical  drive.  This  log- 
ical drive  is,  as  mentioned 
above,  really  just  a  large  file  on 
your  physical  drive.  After  Dou- 
bleSpace installed  itself,  my 
drive  0  was  a  logical  drive, 
and  my  physical  drive  be- 
came drive  E. 

Next,  I  restored  the  rest  of 
my  files  (this  took  about  four 
hours),  and  I  was  ready  to  go. 
I  wanted  to  run  my  bench- 
marks using  DoubleSpace, 
but  just  to  be  on  the  safe 
side,  I  optimized  the  Dou- 
bleSpace volume  first  and 
then  ran  the  programs. 

The    results   were   about 


what  I'd  expected.  Dou- 
bleSpace proved  to  be  essen- 
tially as  fast  as  Stacker  (Stack- 
er averaged  2  percent  faster, 
which  I  consider  insignifi- 
cant), and  it  provided  about 
the  same  compression  ratio — 
1 .8  to  1 . 

I  have  been  running  Dou- 
bleSpace for  about  two 
months,  and  it's  performed 
without  a  hitch. 

For  Windows  users,  Dou- 
bleSpace does  two  things. 
First,  it  gives  you  more  disk 
space  for  disk-hungry  Win- 
dows applications.  Second,  it 
lets  you  check  on  your  free 
disk  space  and  the  compres- 
sion ratio  for  any  file  or  group 
of  files  from  inside  File  Manag- 
er. If  you  click  on  the  Dou- 
bleSpace icon  or  select 
Tools,  DoubleSpace  Info, 
you'll  see  a  3-D  pie  chart  of 
your  hard  disk  indicating  free 
space.  Click  on  More,  and 
you'll  see  the  compression  ra- 
tio of  the  selected  file  or  files. 
Pretty  cool. 

DoubleSpace  has  one  big 
advantage  over  Stacker  that  I 
haven't  discussed  so  far,  and 
that's  that  the  driver  is  loaded 
before  your  system  runs  CON- 
FIG.SYS. This  means  that 
with  DoubleSpace  there's  no 
more  problem  synchronizing 
CONFIG.SYS  and  AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT files  on  both  your  log- 
ical and  physical  volumes  (usu- 
ally drives  C  and  D,  respective- 
ly). The  next  version  of  Stack- 
er should  incorporate  this  en- 
hancement, too. 

So  what  do  you  do  about 
DoubleSpace?  If  you're  al- 
ready using  Stacker,  there's  lit- 
tle reason  to  switch,  especial- 
ly since  it  will  cost  you  $10  if 
you  use  the  conversion  pro- 
gram. If  you  have  DOS  6  and 
haven't  installed  a  compres- 
sion program  yet,  go  ahead 
and  install  DoubleSpace,  and 
reinstall  a  couple  of  those  big 
applications  you've  had  to 
knock  off  your  hard  disk  in 
the  last  year.  □ 


46        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


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growing  prompt 
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TIPS  &  TOOLS 


Edited  by  Richard  C,  Leinecker 


Finding  a  Debug 
alternative 

and  skipping  Uie 
perforations 


Easier  Debug 

I've  had  a  number  of  re- 
quests for  instructions  on  how 
to  create  those  Debug 
scripts  we  publish.  If  you 
know  a  little  assembly  lan- 
guage, it's  not  too  hard.  Just 
write  a  small  program  that 
does  something  useful;  then 
convert  it  to  a  text  file  that  we 
can  publish.  Check  out  previ- 
ous issues  to  see  what  the  for- 
mat looks  like.  Some  of  you 
have  done  just  that,  and  we 
appreciate  it  very  much.  The 
"Tips  &  Tools"  column 
wouldn't  be  much  without  the 
readers'  input. 

Other  readers  have  written 
in  saying  that  using  Debug  is 
awkward.  I  agree.  Not  only 
that,  but  DR  DOS  doesn't 
even  have  Debug. 

I've  spent  a  considerable 
amount  of  time  addressing 
both  of  these  issues.  I  wrote  a 
program  that  does  two 
things.  It  makes  typing  in 
those  Debug  scripts  easier 
and  even  gives  you  an  auto- 
matic checksum  amount.  It'll  al- 
so give  you  the  tools  you 
need  to  create  the  scripts 
from  your  own  programs.  Be- 
sides that,  I've  collected  a 
bunch  of  old  programs  for  ex- 
amples. The  last  thing  I  put  to- 
gether was  a  text  file  explain- 
ing the  entire  process. 

The  program,  under  the 
name  TIP_TOOL.Z!P  is  avail- 
able on  GEnie,  CompuServe, 
and  America  Online. 

RICHARD  C.  LEINECKER 
REIDSVILLE.  NC 


Skip  the  Perfs 

The  rather  long  BASIC  pro- 
gram in  answer  to  Abigail 
Furth's  question  published  in 
"Feedback"  in  March  1993 
seems  to  be  overkill.  All  she 
wanted  to  know  was  how  to 
skip  the  perforations  while  cop- 
ying a  file  to  PRN.  A  simple 
one-line  program  will  do  the 
trick. 

tvtany  9-pin  printers  emu- 
late the  Epson  FX  line  of  print- 

48        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


ers.  These  printers  all  skip  the 
perforations  when  sent  the 
three-byte  command  se- 
quence Esc-N-#.  The  # 
stands  for  the  number  of 
lines  to  skip  over.  I  like  8,  so 
the  printer  sequence  I  send  is 
Esc-N-8.  You  can  use  the  fol- 
lowing BASIC  program  to  do 
this. 


LPRINT  CHRS(27)  +  ' 
+  CHRS(8) 


W 


The  program  can  be  com- 
piled and  put  somewhere  in 
your  path.  If  you  don't  have  a 
compiler  but  QBASIC  is  in 
your  path,  save  the  program 
as  SKIPPERF.BAS  and  run  it 
with  the  line  QBASIC  /RUN 
SKIPPERF.  You'll  also  need  to 
add  a  line  to  the  program  con- 
taining the  command  SYS- 
TEM, which  returns  you  to  the 
system.  Here's  the  program  if 
you  plan  to  use  this  ap- 
proach. 


LPRINT  CHRS(27)  +  ' 
+  CHRS(8) 
SYSTEM 


W 


If  you  don't  want  to  use  BA- 
SIC, you  can  create  a  special 
file  and  send  it  to  the  printer. 
You'll  have  to  use  Debug  to 
create  a  three-byte  binary 
file.  Type  the  following.  In 
these  examples,  the  italic  text 
is  what  the  computer  prints; 
the  roman  text  is  what  you 
should  type. 

debug  sklpperf.dat 

File  not  found 

-e1Q0  1B4E08 

RCX 

CX  0000 

:3 

-W 

Wriling  0003  bytes 

■Q 

To  make  your  printer  skip  the 
perforations,  type  {or  put  in  a 
batch  file)  copy  sklpperf.dat 
prn. 
You  can  reset  your  printer 


to  its  default  settings  with  the 
following  BASIC  program. 

LPRINT  CHR$(27)  +  "@" 

Or  you  can  use  the  file  creat- 
ed with  the  following  Debug 
script. 

debug  restprnt.dat 

File  not  iounti 

-e  100  18  40 

RCX 

CX  0000 

:2 

-W 

Writing  0002  bytes 

■Q 

E  STUART  JOHNSON 
ATHENS,  AL 

Batch  Version  of  Deletex 

The  DELETEX.COM  program 
which  was  phnted  in  the  Jan- 
uary 1993  issue  of  COMPUTE 
inspired  this  batch  file, 
ERASENOT.BAT.  Much  like 
Richard  C.  Leinecker's  crea- 
tion, this  batch  file  erases  eve- 
rything in  the  current  directo- 
ry except  the  files  you  speci- 
fy. The  advantage  over  DE- 
LETEX.COM  is  that  it's  easier 
to  type  it  in  and  make  chang- 
es. The  disadvantage  is  that 
it's  kind  of  slow. 


ECHO  OFF 

IF  "%r'  == 


GOTO  USAGE 


REM  Here,  we  create  a  temporary 
REM  directory  to  hold  all  of 
REM  the  files  in  this  directory 
REM  that  we  don't  want  to  delete. 
REM  II  this  directory  name 
REM  conflicts  with  anything  in 
REM  your  system,  use  another 
REM  name  that  doesn't. 
MD  \TEMP 
rDOCOPY 
COPY  %1  \TEMP 

REM  We  do  a  shift  so  that  up 

REM  to  nine  arguments  can  be 

REM  used. 

SHIFT 

IF  "%1"  =  ""  GOTO  DONE 

GOTO  DOCOPY 


:DONE 

REM  First,  we  delete  everything 
REIVI  in  the  current  directory. 
ECHO  Y  I  DEL  *.* 

REfA  Then,  we  copy  ojr  temporary 
REIVI  files  tiack  here. 
COPYUEMPv*.* 

REM  Now,  we  delete  the  files  in 
REM  the  temporary  directory. 
ECHO  Y  IDELUEMPV*.* 

REM  And  last,  we  remove  the 
REM  temporary  directory. 
ROMEMP 
GOTO  END 

:USAGE 

ECHO   Usage:   ERASENOT  flle- 

mask1  filemask2  .  .  .  filemask9 
ECHO  This  batch  file  erases  all  but 

the  given  file  masks. 

:END 

ILYA  TROYCHANSKY 
BROOKLYN,  NY 

Files  Thof  Read  Themselves 

It  never  fails.  I  compress  col- 
lections of  files  and  send 
them  to  people,  and  they  call 
back  asking  questions.  To 
solve  this  problem,  I  include 
README  files.  Then  they  call 
and  ask  how  to  read  the 
README  files. 

There  are  lots  of  other  exam- 
ples where  groups  of  files 
need  some  explanation.  You 
might  be  distributing  disks  to 
clients  with  records,  pro- 
grams, or  batch  files.  Or  you 
might  upload  files  to  an  online 
service  or  BBS. 

I  have  a  solution  that  lets 
you  create  a  program  called 
MAKEREAD.COM.  To  use  it, 
just  create  a  file  called  READ- 
ME.TXT  in  the  current  directo- 
ry and  then  run  MA- 
KEREAD.COM.  It'll  create  a 
file  called  README.COM  that 
displays  a  text  file  and  allows 
users  to  cursor  up  and  down 
through  it.  Press  Esc  to  quit. 

You  can  type  Makeread  in 
using  the  DOS  Debug  com- 
mand (or  with  Com2hex,  part 


of  TIP_TOOL.ZIP,  which  is 
available  for  download  on 
many  online  services).  Make 
sure  the  DOS  program  called 
Debug  is  in  your  path  or  the 
current  directory.  In  these  ex- 
amples, the  italic  text  is  what 
the  computer  prints;  the  re- 
man text  is  what  you  should 
type.  One  way  to  be  sure  you 
get  these  programs  exactly 
right  is  to  have  someone 
read  the  numbers  to  you.  An- 
other way  is  to  read  the  num- 
bers into  a  tape  recorder  and 
then  play  them  back  as  you 
enter  the  program  code.  This 
program  will  only  work  with  col- 
or monitors. 

debug  makeread.com 
File  not  found 

-efOO  BACE  Ot  BS  00  3D  CD  21 
-e  103  72  43  SB  F8  BA  C3  01  2B 
-ellO  C9  B4  3C  CD  21  72  36  SB 
-e118  D8BA51  01  B9  72  00  B4 
■e120  40  CD  21  B9  01  00  87  FB 
-el 28  B4  3F  CD  21  OB  CO  74  08 
■e130  87  FB  B4  40  CD  21  EB  EE 
-e138  87  DFCB  06  51  01  1A  B4 
■e140  40  CD  21  B4  3E  CD  21  SB 
-e148  DFB4  3ECD21  B4  4C  CD 
-e150  21  83  00  B8  8E  CO  B4  01 
-e158  B9  09  69CD10  2BC9  2B 
-elBO  FF  B8  20  IF  51  B9  DO  07 
-e1B8  F3  AB59  BE  72  01  2B  DB 
-e170  2BED2B  D2  8B  FD  AC  3C 
-e178  1A74  IE  3C0D74  07  3B 
-e180  CB7F  F3  AB  EB  FO  3B  CB 
-el 88  7F  04  81  C5  AO  00  43  46 
-8190  8BD3  2B  D1  30  R^  19  75 
-e198  DB2AE4CD16  3C  IB  74 
-elaO  19  80  FC  50  75  08  80  FA 
-e1a8  19  7CEE  41  EB  B1  80  FC 
-e1b0  48  75  E6  OB  C9  74  E2  49 
-elbS  EB  A5  BS03  00  CD  10  B4 
-eIcO  4C  CD  21  52  45  41  44  40 
-e  1C8  45  2E  43  4F  40  00  52  45 
-e  Ida  41  44  40  45  2E  54  53  54 
-e1dS  00 
-RCX 
CX  0000 
:00D9 
-W 

Writing  00D9  bytes 
-Q 

The  checksum  value  (see  the 
July  1993  "Tips  &  Tools"  for 


the  new  Checksum  program) 
is  25423. 

RICHARD  C,  LEINECKER 
REIDSVILLE,  NC 

Viewing  ZIPs  in  Windows 

I  use  archives  to  compress 
files  to  floppy  disks.  From 
DOS  it's  easy  to  see  what's  in 
the  compressed  file;  you  just 
type  pkzip  -vn  zip  file  I  more. 
From  Windows  it's  harder;  nor- 
mally, I  shell  to  DOS  because 
it's  easier  than  using  the  Fife 
Manager  to  run  the  program. 
I  solved  the  problem  by  cre- 
ating a  batch  file  called 
ZIRBAT 


PKUNZIP  -VN  %1 
PAUSE 


I  MORE 


While  in  the  Windows  File  Man- 
ager, highlight  a  ZIP  file. 
From  the  File  menu  select  As- 
sociate. Then  choose  the 
Browse  button  to  select 
ZIP.BAT  from  the  directory 
where  it  exists.  Now,  to  view 
ZIP  files,  just  double-click  on 
those  files. 

STEVEN  R.  PETERS 
BETHLEHEM,  PA 

Correction 

In  the  October  1992  "Tips  & 
Tools,"  a  tip  was  published 
with  the  name  Andeep 
Tamlianiiar.  The  name  that  ap- 
peared should  have  been  San- 
deep  Tamhanl<ar.  Our  apolo- 
gies for  the  mistake. 

RICHARD  C-  LEIMECKER 
REIDSVILLE,  NC 


If  you  have  an  Interesting  tip 
ttiat  you  think  would  help  oth- 
er PC  users,  send  It  along 
with  your  name,  address,  and 
Social  Security  number  to 
COMPUTE'S  Tips  &  Tools, 
324  West  Wendover  Avenue, 
Suite  200,  Greensboro,  North 
Carolina  27408.  For  each  tip 
we  publish,  we'll  pay  you  $25- 
$50.  All  tips  submitted  be- 
come the  property  of  General 
Media  International.  D 


Creating  self-typing 
README  nies 
and  peeking  tiirough 
Windows  to 
see  what's  inside 
ZIP  files 


SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        49 


INTRODOS 


Tony  Roberts 


These  two  new 

disk-management 

commands 

make  it  easier  to 

work  in  DOS  6. 


MOVE  AND 
DELTREE 

They've  been  a  long  time  com- 
ing, but  Microsoft's  new  DOS 
lias  a  couple  of  important  disk- 
management  tools — Move 
and  Deltree — that  shouldn't 
be  overlooked. 

Unless  you  already  have 
some  kind  of  a  file  mover  on 
your  system,  getting  a  file 
from  one  place  to  another  is  a 
three-step  process:  First,  you 
copy  the  file  to  its  new  loca- 
tion; second,  you  check  to  see 
that  the  copy  was  successful; 
and  third,  you  delete  the  file 
from  its  original  location. 

With  [X>S  6,  you  can  accom- 
plish the  move  in  a  single  com- 
mand. The  syntax  is  Movefile- 
name  destination. 

To  move  more  than  one  file, 
you  can  use  wildcards,  as  in 
Move  *.TXT  C:\TXTFILES.  If  wild- 
cards won't  work,  explicitly 
name  all  the  files  you  want  to 
move,  separating  t he  source  fi le- 
names  with  commas;  Move 
AUTOEXEC.BAK.CONFIG.BAK 
C:\BACKUPS. 

DOS  informs  you  if  the  des- 
tination subdirectory  doesn't  ex- 
ist and  asks  if  you  want  to  cre- 
ate it.  This  feature  saves  time, 
but  it  comes  back  to  haunt 
you  if  you  attempt  to  move 
files  to  the  root  directory  For 
some  reason,  DOS  doesn't 
know  that  the  root  directory  ex- 
ists and  asks.  Make  directory 
c:\?  [yn].  Although  you  know 
the  root  directory  exists,  press 
Y  and  the  files  will  be  moved. 

Move,  like  its  older  cousin 
Copy,  doesn't  warn  you  if  the 
files  you're  moving  will  over- 
write files  of  the  same  name. 
This  requires  that  you  know 
what  files  exist  on  the  destina- 
tion end  of  your  move. 

With  Move,  it's  also  possi- 
ble to  rename  a  file  as  it's  be- 
ing moved,  but  only  if  you're 
moving  a  single  file.  The  syn- 
tax that  accomplishes  this  is 
Move  OLDNAME.EXT  C;\DEST 


XNEWNAME.EXT 

Use  this  trick  to  rename  a 
subdirectory,  too.  For  exam- 
ple, use  Move  C;\SEP93 
C;\OCT93  to  rename  your 
monthly  project  subdirectory 

Note  that  Move  isn't  as  com- 
plex as  the  "prune  and  graft" 
commands  found  in  some  file 
managers.  All  Move  can  do  is 
change  the  name  of  the  sub- 
directory; it  can't  change  its  po- 
sition on  the  directory  tree.  To 
relocate  a  directory  full  of  files 
on  the  directory  tree,  create 
the  new  subdirectory,  use 
Move  to  put  the  files  in  the 
new  location,  and  then  re- 
move the  old  subdirectory 

Since  the  old  subdirectory 
is  now  empty,  it  will  be  easy  to 
remove  it  the  traditional  way — 
with  RD,  However,  when  cir- 
cumstances call  for  you  to  de- 
lete subdirectories  full  of  files, 
you'll  want  to  use  DOS  6's 
Deltree  command. 

Prior  to  DOS  6,  removing  a 
subdirectory  could  be  a 
chore.  DOS  wouldn't  remove 
a  subdirectory  containing 
files,  so  you  had  to  erase  the 
files  before  using  RD.  If  the 
subdirectory  contained  hid- 
den files,  the  DOS  Erase  com- 
mand missed  them,  but  RD 
knew  they  were  there  and  re- 
fused to  delete  the  directory 
So,  you  had  to  use  the  Attrib 
command  to  make  the  hidden 
files  visible  and  then  erase 
them  before  you  could  remove 
the  subdirectory.  If  you  had 
subdirectories  nested  within 
subdirectories,  you  had  to 
start  at  the  lowest  level  and  re- 
peat this  process  as  you 
worked  your  way  up, 

Deltree  untangles  this 
sticky  web.  Typing  deltree 
path  wipes  out  the  subdirecto- 
ry, all  of  its  files — including  sys- 
tem, hidden,  and  read  only — 
and  the  subdirectories  nested 
within  it. 

It's  powerful,  but  danger- 
ous, so  make  certain  you 
know  what  you're  doing.  Even 
Undelete  running  in  Delete  Sen- 


try mode  can't  bring  back  files 
that  were  stored  in  deleted  sub- 
directories. 

Normally,  unless  you  use 
the  /y  switch,  Deltree  will  ask 
for  a  confirmation  before  it 
takes  any  action.  Sometimes, 
though,  it  returns  to  the  DOS 
prompt  without  saying  any- 
thing. This  simply  means  that 
Deltree  didn't  find  the  subdirec- 
tory you  specified.  You  may 
have  made  a  typo  as  you  en- 
tered its  name  or  failed  to  iden- 
tify the  entire  pathname.  Try 
again.  If  you're  successful, 
you'll  receive  a  confirmation  re- 
quest followed  by  the  mes- 
sage Deleting  pathname.  . .  . 

Deltree  suffers  from  some  oth- 
er anomalies.  First,  if  you  try  to 
delete  the  current  subdirectory, 
Deltree's  messages  will  indi- 
cate that  it's  being  done,  but 
the  operation  won't  be  com- 
plete. The  files  and  any  subdi- 
rectories will  be  removed,  but 
the  active  subdirectory  won't 
be  deleted.  Second,  if  the  sub- 
directory you're  removing  has 
any  of  its  attributes  set,  Deltree 
thinks  the  subdirectory  is  a  file 
and  prompts  you  with  Delete 
file  "filename"?  [yn].  Although 
the  prompt  is  erroneous, 
Deltree  takes  the  expected  ac- 
tion and  deletes  the  specified 
subdirectory 

Finally,  either  one  of  these 
commands  can  help  you  cor- 
rect an  illegal-directory-name 
problem.  For  example,  al- 
though spaces  aren't  allowed 
in  directory  names,  some  ap- 
plications or  installation  pro- 
grams manage  to  create  direc- 
tory names  with  spaces  in 
them. 

To  delete  such  a  directory 
with  Deltree,  place  quotation 
marks  around  the  directory 
name  when  typing  the  Deltree 
command;  deltree  "93  data". 

If  you  [ust  want  to  change 
the  directory  name  so  it's  le- 
gal, use  Move,  again  surround- 
ing the  illegal  name  with  quo- 
tation marks  when  you  enter  it; 
move  "93  data"  data.  n 


50        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


Windows  at  Your  Fingertips 


WinBook",  the  first  notebook  computer 
designed  specifically  for  Windows 

□  he  WiiiBook  by  Miao  Electronics™  gives 
you  all  the  power  to  run  Windows,  and  the 
unique  design  to  make  it  easier  to  use. 

It  features  a  built-in,  centered  trackball  which 
allows  you  to  control  cursor  movements  effort- 
lessly with  either  thumb  without  ha\'ing  to  hft  a 
single  finger  off  tlie  keyboard. 

The  WinBook  comes  with  the  power  and  speai  needed 
to  run  Wuidows  effectively— in  monoclirome  and  now  in 
dual-scan  STN  color.  You  get  4MB  memory,  the  new  ultrafast  486 
SLC/  E  procKjsor  and  the  Motorola  chipset  which  provides  eight  power- 


saving  features,  e\'en  while  running  Windows. 

Tlie  WinBook  was  engmeered  for  Miao  Electron- 
ics, a  division  of  MEI/Micro  Center,  Inc.  MEI  is 
America's  leading  du'ect  source  for  computer 
accessories.  Micro  Center  has  been  selling  PCs 
for  more  than  14  years— longer  tiian  IBM  or 
Compaq— ^\•ith  over  736,000  units  sold.  And 
with  o\'er  2.2  milhon  satisfied  customers  nation- 
wide, we  have  developed  a  superior  support  staff, 
including  top  engineers  and  technical  spedahsts. 
So  you  always  get  the  highest  quahty  product  at  the 
lowest  possible  price. 

Before  you  choose  a  notebook  computer,  look  at  the  only  one 
designed  for  Windows. 


The  5.4  lb.  WinBook,  designed  by 
award-winning  Palo  Alto  Design 

•  Includes  a  960U  baud  5i;nd/4S(]0  baud 
recewe  fa.x/2400  baud  modem. 

•  Industry  standard  PCMCIA  2.0  slot  for 
.  fuluri'  oxpandabilily. 

F.ist-acting.  LCD  screen  forlesscutsor 
loss. 

I  Optional  dual-scan  STN  color  for 
near  active  matrix  quality  at  a 
passive  mate  price. 
12k  Vidro  RAM. 


Mouse/keyboard ,  parallel,  serial  and 
VGA  ports  plus  PCMCIA  expansion 


jS-^ 


=* 


[35 

^  7  =^-  [liir- 


,5"  tl{ifijn'dL>kdriVL' 


AlOsiol-^ 


Clean.sharp  color  display 

The  superior  i|uality  of  the 
WinBotik's  new  dual -scan 
STN  color  display  gives  you 
near  acti\'e  matrix  qualit\-at 
a  psLssive  matrix  price. 


Longer  batteiy  life 

The  Winlkx.k  features  NiMH  HIO  M.-\ 
batterieswilhgiild-plaledcdtttacls.This 
allows  it  loniii  much  lunger  than  units 
with  traditional  NiCAD  batteries— 
and  ttiere's  no  memory  effect. 


Specifications 

SlztWeighl 

•  lfXBS4'«t3,T 

•  5.4  tos,  *ilt)  laiWTf  (nonocfiioirel 

•  5.9  tis-  xilli  UOtry  liM-scan  coloil 
ndnling  Dnin 

•  IGmm  Afps  diESI-acIiQn.  MicrQicIt 
cmiBtible  trscloall 

Bittiry 

■  UploStioufSftif^trnwef  ma/iaoemfr/it 
(less  3D  mtnutK  Ini  color) 

•  MiMH[iQ[nemaiYElfect) 

•  2200  MA  with  8cld-pla;od  contads 


•  W{:r;c!AiC£  aii:o-s6'ising  AC  aJafler 

•  Ouiik  2-li£«  reoiara! 
Ptmer  ManagemnI 

•  Eijti  imiti-sadn]  iesijiEs 
Proceiiar  and  Mamory 

•  «6StC,r-23MH2CPU 

•  imwit 

•  1MB  RDM  Inr  AMI  BIOS 

•  MolMta  chjpsflt 

•  Ik  hteny!  cactie 
Drivsi 

•  Ore  huill-ii14ilMS35'1bppv  Olive 

•  Inte'oal  120MB  (ISmsl  haw  ilflij 


•  250MB  (12ms)  ted  (lire  otlioiiai 
SDltwaia 

•  Cmes  loaded  mih  MS-DOS  6  0  apa 

Dliplty 

•  Sspsr-wsM  W  5I31S2IS.  10'  LCD  and 
10241  res  for  BCenttlraii<cf«illi512k 

•  Opiioryl  duat-scaji  STti  calor  display 

•  Miustatjie  Eontrasl  anrj  ttrrgtitness 

•  Visi&l'e  tED  hdicatof  on  co^w-dowr 
Keybajrd 

•  Full-ljfictian  keyboard  with  fiSkEysand'l 
inverledT  cjrso/  Molioi  keys,  3.0nirr 


kcybMrd  spKir^ 
Modem 

•  Fai'ieoo  tHiid  send/4ex  baud  imiitl 
7m  baud  moOem 

UtPtiti 

•  P$^rr«useiit£i1as/ATkevtn?dtited3R 

•  PCMCIA  2.0  SW 

•  Serial:  S-fnn  nrniecHir 

•  Parallel  port 

'Vi*»:  IS-pifiiannetlorteCRT 

•  150-pind«kirg  station 
Opilont 

•  !50MB(12ms)t^aid!jilve 


Docking  station  gives yno  | 
desktop  power 

IViththeavailabledcckingsta-  j 

tion,  your  WinBook  instantly 

becomes  a  full-function 

desktop  computer.  The 

two  expansion  slols  , 

and  drive  bays  allow  [ 

you  to  add  peripherals  __ 

such  as  monitors,  hard  drives,  CD 

ROMs,  I/O  cards  or  an  extended  keyboard  and 

includes  parallel,  serial,  PS/2  mouse,  external 

keyboard  and  VGA  ports. 

And  irs  just  $3991 


Senri  ce ,  warranty  and  support 

*  72-hour  SL'nice  tiim>.iround  guarantee. 

■  45-day  uncondiliunal  money-twck  warrant)'. 

•  24-hciiur  burn-in  pmleclion. 

•  One-yt'-ir  limik'd  w.irranly  on  parts  and  labor. 

•  Toll-fret'  tfchnioil  support  for  llie  life  of  the 
computer. 

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dsp  from  date  of  ffirchast'.  IffoTamfrenstmivhatsch 
^7  ysju  are  not  satisfied  with  ipur  purchase  from  us, 
uv  liwitwiio  Ti'ium  il.  Wt'  wiUlvgkd  to  repair  Ike 
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Convenient  payment  options 

Use  your  VISA,  M  ftslfiCard  ■  Discover  Card , 
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Order  the  WinBook  today.  CaU  1  ■800-468-2459 

1160  Steelwood  Rd.,  Columbus,  OH  43212  •  FAX:  1  •800-448-0308  •  Monday  though  Friday,  8ani-3pm  EST  •  Saturday,  9am'4pin  EST 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  206 


KVOLWIO 


FLIGHT  A§i 

lulation  for  a 
Trustration-free  aviation 
experience! 


For  fifteen  years  our  flight 
simulations  have  won  acclaim  for 
their  dazzling  displays  of  techni- 
cal wizardry.  Now  we're  using 
the  computer  medium  to  provide 
a  satisfying  introduction  to  the 
world  of  aviation.  You  might  say 
that  Flight  Assignment:  ATP 
revision  D  represents  the  current 
state  of  the  art  with  a  user- 
friendly  twist. 


Six  months  of  intensive  real- 
world  flying  helped  our  engineer- 
ing staff  refine  ATP's  flight 
characteristics  and  joystick 
interface,  making  the  simulation 
both  easier  and  more  realistic  to 
fly.  ATP  combines  exceptional 
responsiveness  with  an  easy  to 


read  flight  manual  to  give  you  a 
great  flying  experience. 

While  you're  getting  comfortable 
at  the  controls,  let  ATP's  auto- 
flight  mode  give  you  a  relaxed 
introduction  to  commercial 
aircraft  flight  and  navigation.  Sit 
back  and  follow  the  maps  while 
"Jack"  the  autopilot  and  "Roger" 
the  Air  Traffic  Controller  (spoken 
ATC  messages  with  optional 
SoundBlaster  card)  fly  and  guide 
the  aircraft  from  takeoff  to 
touchdown. 

ATP  contains  visual  scenery,  over 
350  airports  and  the  radio  naviga- 
tion aids  you  need  to  fly  jet  routes 
between  all  major  U.S.  cities.  Fly 
predefined  flight  assignments  or 


select  your  own  departure  and 
destination  airports,  ATP 
provides  inflight  Air  Traffic 
Control  guidance  and  a  postflight 
performance  evaluation. 

scen£ry  collections 

Constant  Gowtng  scenery  for 
e:isy  visual  navigation 


Essential  for  a  truly  gratifying 
flight  experience  is  the  ability  to 
navigate  successfully  "from  point 
A  to  point  B."  Our  new  Scenery 
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that's  ideal  for  visual  navigation, 
and  include  comprehensive  color 
maps  and  plotter. 


Maps  and iPlotter  for  Realistic  Navigation 


X 


Great  Britain  and  California 
Scenery  Collections  make  it  easy 
for  you  to  plot  a  course  from 
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beginner  or  a  seasoned  pro,  even 
simple  visual  flights  help  develop 
your  aircraft  control  and  naviga- 
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visual  navigation  to  encourage 
new  pilots,  Scenery  Collections 
also  offer  excellent  coverage  of 
enroute  and  approach  radio 
naiigation  aids  for  those  wishing 
to  advance  to  instrument  naviga- 
tion.) 


GreSt  Britain  -  White  Cliffs  of  Dover 


USA  SCENERY 
/For  the  ti^t  time  ever! 
Complete,  comprehensive 
USA  scenery  coven^ge 


Now  the  revolution  continues 
with  USA  Scenery  &  Flight  Assig- 
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While  you  can  switch  between 
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USA's  revolutionary  new  flight 
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take  care  of  the  rest.  Or  spell  out 
your  choice  of  aircraft,  weather 
conditions,  time  of  day,  etc.  Then 
press  a  key  to  print  a  copy  of  your 
flight  log.  At  the  destination 
airport  you'll  be  greeted  by 
special  visual  cues  designed  to 


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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  179 


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USA  Scenery  -  Select  Highlighted  Navigation  Aids  and 
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HARDWARE  CLINIC 


Mark  Minasi 


Use  DOS  6's 

MultiConlig  and 

batch  files 

to  supercharge  your 

AUTOEXECBAT 

anil  CONFIG.SYS  files. 


DOS  6's 

MULTICONFIG, 
PARTS 

In  the  August  column.  I  sug- 
gested one  way  to  easily  com- 
bine a  number  of  AUTOEX- 
EC. BATs  into  a  single  MultiCon- 
fig-ready  file.  If  ycu  tried  exper- 
imenting with  your  system,  per- 
haps you  learned  that  the  con- 
figuration names  get  passed 
to  AUTOEXEC.BAT  in  the 
same  case  that  you  wrote 
them  in  CONFIG.SYS.  If  the 
configuration  name  is  interlnk. 
don't  write  the  IF  statement  as 
IF  %config%  =  =  INTERLNK 
GOTO  .  .  .  ,  for  that'll  never 
match.  The  case  must  match; 
the  statement  would  have  to 
be  IF  %config%==interlnk 
GOTO  .... 

If  you're  batch-savvy,  you 
may  know  about  the  CALL 
statement.  The  CALL  state- 
ment makes  it  possible  for  one 
batch  job  to  activate  another 
batch  job  without  DOS's  forget- 
ting about  the  original  batch 
job.  For  you  nonbatchers,  ac- 
tivating one  batch  program 
from  inside  another  doesn't  or- 
dinarily cause  DOS  to  finish 
the  first  batch  job  once  the  sec- 
ond has  been  run.  For  exam- 
ple, assume  that  you  have  a 
batch  job  called  X.BAT  that 
looks  like  this. 

©echo  off 

ecfio  Message  from  X 

Y 

echo  Last  message  from  X 

Also,  assume  that  you  have  a 
batch  program  called  Y.BAT 
that  looks  like  this. 

©echo  off 

echo  Message  from  Y 

Running  X  will  result  in  the 
screen's  showing  this. 


54        COMPUTE 


Message  from  X 
Message  from  Y 

SEPTEMBER  1993 


There  will  be  no  Last  mes- 
sage from  X. 

That's  because  starting 
one  batch  program  from  in- 
side another  batch  program 
causes  C0MMAND.COM— 
the  program  that  executes 
batch  programs — to  load 
Y.BAT  in  anticipation  of  execut- 
ing it  and  to  accidentally  over- 
write X.BAT  in  COM- 
MAND,COM's  memory,  As  a 
result,  when  Y  ends,  COM- 
MAND.COM  returns  to  the 
command  prompt,  not  to  the 
finishing  lines  of  X.BAT  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  line  Y  that 
stands  by  itself  in  X.BAT  is  re- 
placed by  CALL  Y,  COM- 
MAND.COM  will  remember 
X.BAT  and  the  output  will  be 
as  follows. 

Message  from  X 
Message  from  Y 
Last  message  from  X 

The  CALL  command  will, 
then,  provide  an  alternative  to 
inserting  the  various  AUTOEX- 
EC.BATs  physically  into  the 
master  AUTOEXEC.BAT  To 
apply  this,  recall  the  AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT that  we  ended  up 
with  in  August  looks  iike  this, 
with  three  sections, 

©ECHO  OFF 

IF  %config%==standard  GOTO 

STANDARD 
IF  %config%==maxmemory  GOTO 

MAXMEMORY 
IF  %CDnfig%==wingcomm  GOTO 

WINGCOfVIM 
:STANDARD 
PROMPT  $P$G 
PATH  C:\DOS 
DOSKEY 
PRINT  IQ 
SMARTDRV 
GOTO  END 
iMAXMEMORY 
PROMPT  $P$G 
PATH  C:\DOS 
LH  DOSKEY 
GOTO  END 
:WINGCOMM 
CD\GAMES\WC2  WC2 
GOTO  END 


The  standard  section  is  the 
stuff  that  you  usually  use,  the 
interlnk  section  sets  up  an  In- 
terlnk server,  and  the  wing- 
comm  section  sets  up  a  con- 
figuration that  aliows  Wing 
Commander  II — a  very  memo- 
ry-intensive game — to  run. 
But  instead  of  merging  these 
files,  imagine  that  you  have 
batch  files  called  STAN- 
DARD.BAT  MAXMEM.BAT 
and  WINGCOMM.BAT  Inside 
the  sections  you  could  simply 
insert  CALL  STANDARD, 
CALL  MAXMEM,  or  CALL 
WINGCOMM.  The  final  AU- 
TOEXEC.BAT look  like  this. 

©ECHO  OFF 

IF  %config%=slan()ard  GOTO 

STANDARD 
IF  %config%==n!iaxmemory  GOTO 

MAXMEMORY 
IF  %config%==wingcamm  GOTO 

WINGCOMM 
:STANDARD 
CALL  STANDARD 
GOTO  END 
:MAXMEMORY 
CALL  MAXMEM 
GOTO  END 
:WINGCOMM 
CALL  WINGCOMM 
GOTO  END 
:END 

Now,  there's  an  even  more 
compact  way  of  doing  this 
that  involves  just  doing  the 
CALL  statements  from  inside 
the  IFs;  the  AUTOEXEC.BAT 
would  look  like  this. 

©ECHO  OFF 

IF  %config%==standard  CALL 

STANDARD 
IF  %config%==maxmemory  CALL 

MAXMEM 
IF  %con(ig%==wingcDmm  CALL 

WINGCOMM 

That's  probably  an  accepta- 
ble alternative,  and  it  certain- 
ly makes  converting  a  bunch 
of  configurations  to  a  single 
AUTOEXEC.BAT  easier,  but  it 
won't  work  if  the  %config% 
variable  gets  altered  by  one 


of  the  batch  files.  The 
chances  of  that  happening 
are  small,  so  this  may  be  the 
simplest  method  of  unifying 
AUTOEXEC. BATs  for  most 
people. 

If  you're  a  batch  expert,  a 
look  at  the  amalgamated 
batch  file  above  will  probably 
lead  you  to  notice  that  I 
could've  reorganized  some  of 
the  statements  to  make  the 
AUTOEXEC.BAT  smaller. 
That's  certainly  true,  and  if 
you  want  to  do  that  for  your 
AUTOEXEC.BAT  go  ahead.  I 
didn't  because  I  like  the  clear- 
ly defined  separate  areas  for 
the  different  configurations. 

Making  It  Simple 

Let's  get  back  to  the  CON- 
FIG.SYS part  of  MultiConfig. 
In  my  example,  I  end  up  with 
a  CONFIG.SYS  that  looks  like 
this. 

[menu] 

menuilem  normal, Standard  setup 
menuitem  interink, Setup  witfi 
interink  driver 
menudefault  normal,2 

[narmall 

FILES=60 

BUFFERS=30 

STACKS=9,256 

DEVICE=C:\D0S\KIIV1EM.SYS 

DOS=HIGH 

[inJerInk] 

FILES=BO 

BUFFERS=3D 

STACKS=9,256 

DEV!CE=C:\D0S\HIIV1E1V1.SYS 

DOS=HIGH 

OEViCE=C:\D0S\INTERLNK,EXE 

You'll  notice  that  a  group  of 
statements  is  common  to 
both  configurations.  There  are 
just  a  few  statements  that  you 
can  expect  ail  configurations 
to  have— perhaps  an  essen- 
tial device  driver,  FILES/BUFF- 
ER 8/ LASTDR IV  E/STACKS 
statements,  and  the  like.  In 
the  case  of  my  example  con- 
figuration,   the    commands 


that  are  common  to  the  two 
configurations  are  as  follows. 

FILES=60 

BUFFERS=30 

STACKS=g,25B 

DEVICE=C:\D0S\HI!V1EIVI.SYS 

DOS=HIGH 

You  can  save  yourself  some 
typing  by  extracting  a  com- 
mon group  of  statements  and 
making  it  a  block  by  giving  it 
a  block  name  and  using  the 
IvlultiConfig  command  IN- 
CLUDE. Just  remove  the 
group  of  statements  from  all 
configurations  that  use  it,  and 
precede  it  with  a  name  in 
brackets,  just  like  the  config- 
urations that  you've  been  build- 
ing so  far. 

Where  the  group  of  state- 
ments used  to  be  in  each  con- 
figuration, insert  the  phrase  IN- 
CLUDE [biockname],  where 
blockname  is  whatever  you've 
called  the  block  of  statements 
common  to  the  configurations. 
For  example,  if  I  create  a 
block  called  [shared]  that  con- 
tains the  statements  that  are 
shared  between  the  configura- 
tions, the  CONFIG.SYS  looks 
like  this. 

[menu] 

menuitem  normal, Standard  setup 
menuitem  Interink, Setup  witti 
Interink  driver 
menudetault  normal, 2 

[sliared] 

FILES=60 

BUFFERS=30 

STACKS=9,256 

DEVICE=C:\D0S\HIIV1EIVI.SYS 

DOS=HIGH 

[normal] 
INCLUDE  shared 

[Interink] 

INCLUDE  shared 

DEVICE=C:\DOS\INTERLNK.EXE 

You  can  have  as  many  IN- 
CLUDE blocks  as  you  like. 
For  exannple,  you  might  have 


an  INCLUDE  block  with  your 
memory  management  com- 
mands (Ef\/1M386/HIMEM/ 
D0S=HIGH,Ufv1B),  another 
with  your  LAN  drivers,  anoth- 
er with  Interink  commands, 
and  so  on. 

If  you  have  a  bunch  of  state- 
ments that  are  common  to  all 
configurations,  you  can  cre- 
ate a  block  containing  those 
statements,  and  then  include 
them  in  each  block.  But 
there's  an  easier  way:  using 
the  [common]  block. 

There's  a  predefined  block 
called  [common],  which,  if  in- 
cluded in  your  CONFIG.SYS, 
will  automatically  be  executed 
at  the  end  of  every  configura- 
tion. Just  include  [common]  on 
a  line  and  follow  it  with  whatev- 
er statements  you  want  to  see 
executed,  no  matter  which  con- 
figuration gets  selected. 

I  strongly  recommend  that 
you  have  a  [common]  block 
and  that  you  put  it  at  the  end 
of  your  CONFIG.SYS.  That 
way,  when  you  install  a  pro- 
gram that  inserts  commands 
Into  your  CONFIG.SYS  state- 
ment, the  new  statements  will 
usually  be  placed  at  the  end. 

If  the  last  block  is  the  [com- 
mon] block,  you  know  that  the 
statements  will  be  executed;  if 
the  last  block  Isn't  the  [com- 
mon] block,  the  newfy  inserted 
statements  won't  be  executed 
unless  the  last  block  happens 
to  get  executed,  which  would 
probably  cause  the  newly  in- 
stalled program  to  fail. 

Speak  Up! 

Do  you  have  a  tough  hard- 
ware problem  that  you  would 
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SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE 


55 


PROGRAMMING  POWER 


Tom  Campbell 


Read  ttie  tutorial  fii^ 

if  you  don't  tfiink 

you  need  it  read  The 

ODjectPAL 

Developer's  Guide 

first  if  you  tfiinl< 

you  need  the  tutorial. 


PARADOX  AS  A 
WINDOWS  DATA- 
BASE MANAGER 

This  month,  I  find  myself  in  a 
strange  position.  I'm  going  to 
tell  you  why  I  think  Paradox  is 
a  great  Windows  database 
manager  to  use  for  serious  ap- 
plications development.  Then 
I'm  going  to  tell  you  to  break 
all  the  rules.  Borland  has 
some  of  the  best  manuals  I've 
ever  seen  for  a  fanguage  prod- 
uct, but  it  tells  you  to  use  them 
the  wrong  way.  Below,  you'll 
find  my  new  rules,  which  will 
tell  you  how  to  use  them  the 
right  way. 

Remember  that  I'm  looking 
at  this  from  a  programmer's 
standpoint,  but  you  don't 
need  experience  in  any  other 
computer  languages  to  learn 
how  to  program  Paradox.  It 
will  take  a  while,  probably  at 
least  three  months,  to  get  the 
hang  of  it  if  you've  never  pro- 
grammed before.  This  is  true 
for  any  programming  lan- 
guage. Learning  ObjectPAL 
{PAL  stands  for  Paradox  Appli- 
cation Language)  is  very  easy 
in  some  respects  but  daunting 
in  others.  It  is  well  worth  the 
time  you  put  into  it. 

1 .  Read  the  tutorial  first  if 
you  don't  think  you  need  ii; 
read  The  ObjectPAL  Develop- 
er's Guide  first  if  you  think  you 
need  the  tutorial.  The  Borland 
documentation  says  you 
should  read  the  Learning  Ob- 
jectPAL tutorial  if  you  don't 
have  any  programming  expe- 
rience. The  problem  is  that  it 
jumps  right  into  hard-core  con- 
cepts like  objects  and  meth- 
ods while  neglecting  to  ex- 
plain more  basic  things  like 
constants  and  variables.  All 
are  important,  but  the  basics 
are  called  that  for  a  reason. 
They  should  always  come 
first.  If  you  understand  none  of 
these  things,  worry  not.  The 
Borland  manuals  offer  hope  if 


you  break  the  rules.  The  Ob- 
jectPAL Developer's  Guide,  os- 
tensibly for  programmers  who 
have  read  Learning  Ob- 
jectPAL and  are  now  ready  to 
start  developing  fuli-fledged 
applications,  has  four  intro- 
ductory chapters  that  really 
belong  in  the  tutorial.  They  are 
very  well  written,  just  mis- 
placed. The  first  rule,  then,  is 
to  read  chapters  1-4  of  The 
ObjectPAL  Developer's  Guide 
if  the  Learning  ObjectPAL 
book  leaves  you  a  bit  unful- 
filled. None  of  this  is  to  say 
that  the  guide  falls  short.  It's  a 
milestone  in  Borland  docu- 
mentation and  should  be  a 
model  tor  all  language  prod- 
ucts. Usually,  languages  give 
you  a  reference  and,  if  you're 
lucky,  a  tutorial.  The  problem 
is  what  happens  in  between. 
They  never  seem  to  have  a 
book  that  addresses  the 
needs  of  the  person  who  has 
mastered  the  rudiments  but 
doesn't  know  where  to  go 
next.  It's  the  basis  of  a  multi- 
million-dollar book  industry. 
I'm  delighted  to  see  Borland 
tackling  this  very  difficult  sub- 
ject, I'd  like  to  see  Borland  do 
the  same  thing  with  its  Pascal 
and  C  products,  and  Microsoft 
should  do  the  same  with  its 
languages. 

2.  Use  the  reference  as  a  tu- 
torial no  matter  what.  As  good 
as  The  ObjectPAL  Develop- 
er's Guide  IS  (and  that's  very 
good),  you  can  learn  even 
more  by  thumbing  through 
The  ObjectPAL  Reference. 
Reference  books  aren't  de- 
signed to  be  used  as  tutorials 
or  even  to  be  browsed.  You're 
expected  to  have  an  idea  of 
what  you're  looking  for  before 
you  crack  the  book.  Ob- 
jectPAL is  such  a  big  lan- 
guage that  no  tutorial  could 
cover  all  its  facets.  Spend  an 
occasional  lunch  hour  or  bus 
ride  just  thumbing  through 
The  ObjectPAL  Reference, 
and  you  will  assuredly  discov- 
er useful,  timesaving  features 


that  you  might  never  learn 
about  otherwise.  Do  this  once 
while  you're  learning  Ob- 
jectPAL, expecting  to  learn 
very  little,  and  then  severai 
times  after  you've  learned  it, 
It's  a  synergistic  process.  The 
more  you  learn  about  Ob- 
jectPAL, the  more  usefu 
these  free-form  sessions  will  be- 
come and  the  more  they'll 
help  you  learn  the  language. 
A  side  note:  If  you're  trying  to 
learn  how  to  program  Win- 
dows in  C,  this  technique 
might  be  the  glue  you  need  to 
hold  together  the  concepts 
you've  been  learning. 

3.  Quit  planning.  The  Ob- 
jectPAL Developer's  Guide 
quotes  the  party  line  of  data- 
base programming,  which  is 
that  you  should  plan  an  appli- 
cation extensively  before  start- 
ing it,  This  may  make  sense  in 
large  corporations,  although 
there  is  ample  evidence  sug- 
gesting this  isn't  automatically 
true.  It's  also  the  first  rule  of  eve- 
ry database  textbook  written 
since  the  Jurassic  Period. 
Throw  that  rule  out  the  window 
if  you  use  Paradox.  Object- 
oriented  programming  tends 
to  seal  off  the  parts  of  large  pro- 
grams in  such  a  way  that  shuf- 
fling them  around  and  trying 
out  new  ideas  is  easier  than  it 
ever  was  before  with  tradition- 
al programming  techniques. 
Paradox  enforces  many  good 
object-oriented  techniques, 
and  because  of  this,  I've  had 
a  lot  more,  well,  fun  letting 
applications  evolve  naturally. 

The  Paradox  programming 
environment  is  responsive,  ef- 
ficient, flawlessly  designed, 
and  a  joy  to  use.  Borland's  lan- 
guage manuals  used  to  be  full 
of  corny  jokes  and  asides 
about  just  how  fun  the  products 
were  to  use.  And  they  were 
right!  Paradox  1 .0  is  as  cool  as 
Turbo  Pascal  1 .0  was,  but  the 
manuals  forget  to  mention  it. 
Quit  planning.  Learn  the  lan- 
guage, but  play  as  you  go.  The 
rest  will  take  care  of  itself.     O 


56        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


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to  pay  for  a  good  word- 
processing  program: 
$200  or  $400— or  even  more? 
How  about  $5 — or  even  less? 
That's  what  some  ads  for  share- 
ware products  imply.  Shareware  is 
an  inexpensive  method  of  distriti- 
uting  software  that  relies  on  an 
author's  efforts— and  the  integrity 
of  the  program's  users.  Shareware 
authors  give  away  copies  of  their 
programs  for  free  or  for  low  disk 
duplication  charges. 

The  programs  typically  contain 
messages  asking  you  to  send 
money  if  you  like  and  use  them.  If 
enough  users  like  a  particular  pro- 
gram enough  to  send  in  the  rec- 
ommended payment,  the  author 
will  recoup  his  or  her  investment  of 
time  and  effort. 

Contrary  to  what  some  ads 
imply,  the  actual  value  of  a  share- 
ware product  can  range  from  noth- 
ing to  several  thousand  dollars. 
While  the  price  you  pay  for  a  disk 
may  be  just  a  couple  of  dollars, 
the  actual  program  can  be  worth 
much  more. 

Advantage 

Shareware  offers  an  author  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  be  in  com- 
plete control  of  the  product.  The 
alternative  is  to  sell  or  license  it  to 
a  publisher,  who  may  change  it  or 
decide  it  isn't  worth  the  effort  to 
promote  it.  A  shareware  author 
gets  all  of  the  profits  from  his  or 
her  program — not  a  small  royalty 
fee  for  each  copy  sold. 

Shareware  offers  the  user  one 
of  the  best  ways  to  determine 
whether  the  software  has  the 
needed  features  and  power. 


Contract 

There  are  many  variations  on  the 
shareware  contract.  Some  pro- 
grammers encourage  you  to  try 
the  program  for  a  period  of  time, 
after  which  you're  expected  to 
send  in  a  specified  amount  of 
money.  As  with  commercial  prod- 
ucts, there  are  both  reasonably 
priced  and  overpriced  shareware- 


registering  it  according  to  the 
terms  in  the  contract  is  technically 
a  violation  of  copyright  laws, 
although  neither  the  Association  of 
Shareware  Professionals  nor  the 
Software  Publishers  Association 
has  prosecuted  such  a  copyright 
violation,  according  to  Jan  Abbott, 
executive  director  of  the  Associ- 
ation of  Shareware  Professionals, 


products.  Other  programmers  ask 
you  to  send  in  whatever  amount 
you  feel  is  reasonable.  Still  others 
offer  a  demonstration  version  of  a 
program  and  encourage  you  to 
register  by  sending  a  more  fully 
featured  program  when  the  regis- 
tration fee  is  received. 

Most  shareware  is  copyrighted, 
and  using  the  shareware  without 


and  Ken  Wasch.  executive  direc- 
tor of  the  Software  Publishers 
Association. 

Many  users  choose  to  send  in 
shareware  payments  for  programs 
that  they  actually  use.  It's  an 
excellent  way  to  tell  the  author  that 
you  care  about  the  effort  that  went 
into  writing  the  program  and  to 
encourage  future  versions.  In 


U  CAN  DO  IT  WITH  SHAREWARE. 


addition,  most  autliors  will  give 
tectinical  support  (if  any  is  avail- 
able) only  to  registered  users  and 
will  notify  them  about  new  ver- 
sions and  upgrades  when  they 
become  available. 

A  variation  on  shareware  is 
blackmailware.  These  programs 
look  like  shareware  products,  but 
they  won't  give  you  full  access 


another  shareware  product  that 
doesn't  restrict  you. 

Some  restrictive  shareware 
programs  purposely  destroy  them- 
selves after  a  given  period  of  time 
unless  they've  been  registered. 
After  you  pay  the  registration  fee, 
you're  given  either  a  new  version 
or  a  password  that  disables  the 
erase  function  in  your  copy. 


until  you  send  in  the  required  pay- 
ment. Obviously,  a  program  that 
doesn't  permit  complete  access 
forces  you  to  buy  the  unlocked 
copy  if  you  wish  to  use  it.  While 
there  are  several  blackmailware 
programs,  they  aren't  widely  dis- 
tributed simply  because  they  are 
so  annoying  to  users.  Its  almost 
always  easier  just  to  search  for 


A  variation  on  the  password 
theme  is  a  program  that  constantly 
prompts  you  to  send  in  your  regis- 
tration payment.  When  your  pay- 
ment is  received,  you're  given  a 
password  that  disables  the 
prompt. 

Even  major  software  compa- 
nies get  into  the  shareware  act. 
t^any  distribute  commercial  demo 


programs.  A  demo  program  is 
generally  a  limited  version  of  the 
real  program— enough  for  you  to 
see  how  the  program  works  but 
not  enough  for  you  to  use  it  for 
any  practical  application.  For 
example,  the  program  may  lock 
out  the  capability  to  save  files  or 
print  them.  Rather  than  prompting 
you  to  send  in  a  registration  fee, 
these  programs  are  intended  to 
whet  your  appetite  for  the  features 
and  power  you  glimpse  so  that 
you  will  buy  the  fully  operational 
commercial  version.  Technically, 
these  programs  are  just  fancy 
advertisements,  but  shareware 
collections  often  include  them. 

Most  shareware  products  are 
fully  operational  programs  or  utili- 
ties, and  for  the  most  part,  they 
have  reasonable  registration  fees. 
Some  of  the  best  shareware  pro- 
grams have  innovative  payment 
methods,  For  example,  some 
authors  ask  you  to  donate  money 
to  their  favorite  charities  as  a  reg- 
istration fee.  Beerware  authors 
request  that  you  make  a  toast  in 
honor  of  the  programmer  if  you 
like  the  product. 

f\/lany  shareware  contracts 
include  limitations  on  how  the 
shareware  can  be  used.  A  pro- 
gram may  be  limited  !o  noncom- 
mercial uses,  or  there  may  be  limi- 
tations on  how  its  data  can  be  dis- 
tributed. Typically,  there  is  a  pric- 
ing tier  where  noncommercial 
users  are  asked  to  send  in  smaller 
payments  than  commercial  users. 
Site  licenses  are  often  available  as 
options. 

Many  businesses  require  some 
kind  of  invoice  before  they  can  pay 
for  anything,  and  most  shareware 


programs  include  invoice-printing 
functions  for  businesses'  convenience. 

Avoiding  the  Plague 

One  of  the  biggest  concerns  v/itli 
shareware  is  how  it  enters  the  distribu- 
tion channel.  With  a  commercial  pro- 
gram, you  know  that  all  of  the  disks 
were  written  by  the  manufacturer, 
probably  with  the  same  disk  duplica- 
tion equipment  and  hopefully  with 
strict  quality  control.  It's  unlikely, 
although  not  impossible,  for  a  virus  to 
be  accidentally  distributed  with  a 
commercial  product. 

On  the  other  hand,  shareware 
products  often  go  through  many  inter- 
mediate duplications  before  they 
reach  the  consumer,  with  no  guaran- 
tee of  antivirus  precautions,  In  addi- 
tion, most  shareware  products  are  dis- 
tributed as  plain,  unsealed  disks.  How 
can  you  protect  yourself  from  viruses 
when  you're  using  software  that's 
passed  through  so  many  hands? 

Many  shareware  distributors 
advertise  their  products  as  virus-free, 
accepting  responsibility  for  the 
integrity  of  the  media  they  distribute. 
Some  shareware  designed  for  the 
retai!  market  comes  in  fancy  packag- 
ing {fancy  for  shareware)  with  a  seal 
labeled  virusproof.  Whether  or  not 
that  seal  can  prevent  a  virus  from  get- 


ting into  the  duplication  process  is 
debatable.  In  any  case,  you  should 
treat  any  floppy  disk  you  receive, 
whether  it's  shareware,  commercial 
software,  or  a  data  disk,  as  potentially 
infected.  Make  it  a  practice  to  scan 
disks  with  a  virus  checker. 

Swimming  the  Channel 

Some  companies  will  charge  as  much 
as  $5  or  $10  per  shareware  disk;  oth- 
ers will  charge  as  little  as  $1  for  the 
same  product.  What's  the  difference? 
Shareware  sold  from  a  retail  store  ori- 
ented toward  fancy  packaging  (for 
example,  most  shopping  mall  software 
stores)  will  probably  come  in  a  fancy 
package  with  a  display  card.  That 
packaging  translates  into  increased 
costs  passed  on  to  the  user.  On  the 
opposite  end  of  the  price  spectrum, 
the  least  expensive  shareware  often 
comes  without  guarantees  or  ex- 
change privileges — even  for  damaged 
disks.  In  any  case,  there's  no  credible 
reason  for  paying  more  than  $2-$5 
per  disk  for  shareware  products. 

With  the  proliferation  of  CD-ROM 
drives  and  reduced  prices  for  both  dri- 
ves and  media,  shareware  CD-ROM 
collections  have  become  popular.  A 
huge  collection  of  shareware  programs 
can  be  put  onto  a  single  CD-ROM  and 
distributed  much  less  expensively  than 


the  equivalent  stack  of  floppy  disks.  It's 
a  good  bet  that  files  on  a  CD-ROM  do 
not  have  any  viruses,  but  this  is  not  an 
absolute  guarantee.  Conceivably,  the 
files  on  a  CD-ROM  could  have  embed- 
ded viruses,  if  the  person  who  assem- 
bled the  programs  wasn't  careful.  It's 
also  possible  that  the  utilities  you  use 
to  transfer  files  from  the  CD-ROM  to 
your  computer — or  even  your  comput- 
er's operating  system — could  have  a 
virus  that  could  affect  the  programs  as 
you  use  them. 

It's  important  to  note  that  while  you 
pay  for  a  shareware  CD-ROM,  you 
pay  for  the  physical  medium,  not  the 
programs  on  it,  You  are  still  expected 
to  send  in  your  shareware  registration 
fees.  The  primary  disadvantage  of 
shareware  CD-ROMs  is  that  the  discs 
may  have  dated  shareware. 
Publishers  pay  a  high  one-time  cost 
each  time  a  new  CD-ROM  is  mas- 
tered, and  many  companies  are  reluc- 
tant to  remaster  their  collections  until 
they  start  to  lose  sales, 

Being  a  read-only  medium,  CD- 
ROMs  are  limited  in  their  usefulness 
for  many  applications.  Data  files 
(graphic  libraries  are  a  good  example) 
can  remain  on  the  CD-ROM  for  load- 
ing into  memory  as  required.  But 
many  programs  must  first  be  trans- 
ferred from  the  CD-ROM  to  your  hard 


IF  YOUR  WlDEA  DF  A  GOOD  TIME 


;:>i-'t'.^r;r- 


M^- 


IS  SITTING  ALDNE  IN  THE  DARK. 


■-am.  -' 


FIGHTING  DFF  EVIL  FORCES 


TIL  THE  SUN  ¥.  COMES  UP.. 


drive  before  they  can  be  used. 
Despite  the  huge  capacity  of  a  CD- 
ROM,  many  publishers  also  compress 
the  files  on  the  disc,  which  means  that 
a  decompression  utility  transfers  the 
files  to  your  hard  drive. 

Happy  Hunting 

So  what  is  available  in  shareware? 
Everything  from  truly  free  programs 
without  any  financial  obligations  up 
through  multithousand-dollar  vertical- 
market  products.  You  can  obtain  clip 
art,  databases  of  information,  or  useful 
productivity  programs. 

The  primary  advantage  of  share- 
ware is  the  concept  of  checking 
something  out  before  you  make  your 
full  payment.  For  the  most  part,  com- 
mercial software  is  sold  on  the  you- 
break-it-you-bought-it  principle—/?  in 
this  case  referring  to  the  product's 
shrink-wrap.  As  a  rule,  the  only  guar- 
antee you  have  of  the  product's  per- 
formance is  its  advertisements,  the 
company's  reputation,  and  the  opin- 
ions of  friends  and  reviewers.  With 
shareware  you're  actually  encouraged 
to  test  before  you  invest. 

There  are  many  good  shareware 
productivity  products.  Which  product 
is  better  is  often  a  matter  of  personal 
preference,  but  there  are  many  pro- 
grams that  are  generally  considered 


excellent.  Here  are  some  of  my 
favorites.  It  would  be  possible  to  run  a 
business  office  using  only  programs 
from  this  short  list. 

Word  processing.  So  far,  a  share- 
ware product  on  the  level  of  Microsoft 
Word  or  WordPerfect  has  not 
appeared,  but  if  you  need  a  function- 
al, friendly  DOS  word  processor  for 
writing  letters,  short  documents,  and 
notes,  PC-Write  is  an  excellent,  inex- 
pensive shareware  choice. 

Spreadsheet.  The  capabilities  of 
shareware  spreadsheet  programs  lil<e 
PC-Calc,  Express-Calc,  and  Free  Calc 
compare  favorably  with  those  of  pro- 
fessional programs  like  VisiCalc  and 
Lotus  1-2-3.  The  documentation  for 
these  shareware  products  is  not  on  a 
par  with  the  documentation  shipped 
with  the  professional  products,  but  if 
you  already  know  how  to  use  a 
spreadsheet  program,  you'll  probably 
be  satisfied  with  their  performance. 

Database.  As  a  file-card-style  data- 
base program,  PC-File  or  File-Express 
performs  adequately.  If  you  need  a 
more  reiational  database  utility,  try  1  on 
1  =  3,  a  workalike  clone  of  dBASE  II!. 
A!so,  keep  an  eye  out  for  WAtyiPUM. 

Communications.  Telecommu- 
nications programs  are  one  area 
where  shareware  really  excels.  Pro- 
comm  is  one  of  the  most  popular  com- 


munications programs,  even  when 
considering  professional  products.  It's 
gone  professional  (Procomm  Plus  for 
Windows  was  a  COMPUTE  Choice 
award  winner),  but  version  2.43  is  still 
available  in  shareware  collections. 

Other  categories  where  there  are 
excellent  shareware  productivity  pro- 
grams include  graphics,  desktop  pub- 
lishing, and  utilities. 

Until  recently,  there  wasn't  much 
Windows  shareware  available.  Several 
shareware  programming  utilities  for 
Windows  programmers  have  made  it 
easier  to  develop  Windows-based 
applications,  and  there  are  now  collec- 
tions of  shareware  Windows  programs. 

Sharing  ts  Caring 

The  biggest  shareware  question  is,  If 
shareware  is  better  than  commercial- 
ware,  why  would  anybody  buy  com- 
mercial software? 

The  primary  disadvantage  of 
shareware  is  explained  by  Sturgeon's 
Law,  Science-fiction  author  Ted 
Sturgeon  once  shocked  his  col- 
leagues by  stating,  "Ninety  percent  of 
science  fiction  is  crap."  He  continued, 
"But  so  is  90  percent  of  everything 
else."  Well,  shareware  probably 
approaches  the  99th  percentile.  With 
commercial  programs,  especially 
those  from  a  reputable  company,  you 


...YOU  NFED  [JH0fF;i;ilDi1AL  flap. 


A  mouse  and  keyboard  are  fine  for  tackling 
spreadsheets,  not  teeming  legions  of 
blood-thirsty  marauders.  State- 
of-the-art  CyberMan"  puts  an  unlimited  ^ 
range  of  motion  within  your  grasp: 
three  directions  [x,  y,  and  z]  and  three 
rotations  [pitch,  yaw,  and  roll]. 

Just  move  or  twist  it  any  way  you 
want  to  go.  Plus  it's  tfie  only  con- 
troller with  vibrating  feedback  that 
lets  you  feel  the  action.  CyberMan  is 
100%  compatible  with  conventional 
mouse  applications,  and  comes  with  3D  game 
titles  that  will  pull  you  into  the  next  dimension  in 
PC  entertainment.  CyberMan  is  available  now  at 
your  local  dealer,  or  call  1-800-732-2923. 

^"  Trademarks  belong  to  cheir  registered  owners. 


3D  INTERACTIVE 
CONTROLLER 


The  Senseware'  Company 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  255 


Hotware 

What's  hot  in  shareware?  We  called 
CompuServe  to  get  the  titles  of  the 
hottest  shareware  and  freeware. 
Here's  the  list. 

Windows 

Here  are  some  of  the  most  popular 
Windows  shareware  and  freeware 
packages  on  CompuServe. 

1.  Switcher  (filename  SWITCH.ZiP); 
15,943  bytes.  This  utility  lets  you 
quickly  switch  video  modes. 

2.  fvlonitor  Saver  (filename  MS20B- 
.ZIP};  16,700  bytes.  This  screen  saver 
includes  five  blanking  options. 

3.  Flipper  (filename  FLIPPE.ZIP), 
6530  bytes.  Flipper  is  a  utility  that 
flips  the  printer  orientation  from  por- 
trait to  landscape  when  you  double- 
click on  its  icon. 

4.  Makefont  (filename  MAKEFO.ZIP}; 
1 1 ,389  bytes,  Makefont  converts  the 
fonts  found  in  your  system  ROfvl  into 
Windows  FNT  files. 

5.  Gtoys  (filename  GTOYS.ZIP); 
40,128  bytes.  This  fractal  generator 
draws  Mandelbrot,  Julia,  and  fractal 
dragon  sets. 

6.  Winlak  (filename  WINTAK.ZIP); 
101,376  bytes.  WinTak  is  a  Windows 
video  benchmark  that  analyzes  the 
performance  of  your  video  card. 
Created  by  Texas  Instruments,  it 
uses  the  Tl  34010  or  Tl  34020  graph- 
ics accelerator  as  the  standard 
against  which  your  video  card  is 
measured.  It  requires  Windows  3.1. 


7.  POSTNET  Bar  Code  Font  (filename 
POSTAL.ZIP),  7347  bytes.  This  file  is 
actually  a  font  file  that  contains 
TrueType  and  ATfvl  versions  of  the  bar 
code  used  by  the  U.S.  Postal  Service. 
It  will  print  the  nine-digit  ZIP  code  or 
the  POSTNET  bar  code  on  envelopes. 

8.  DisplayText  (filename  DRVTST- 
.ZIP);  93,249  bytes.  This  utility  tells 
the  user  about  the  display  technolo- 
gy in  use  by  Windows.  It  also  can  list 
all  of  the  modules  loaded,  giving 
expanded  fife  data  about  them. 

9.  DISK  SPOOL  (filename  DS.EXE); 
118,151  bytes.  This  is  a  pnnt  spooler 
for  Windows. 

10.  WinZip  (filename  WINZIP.ZIP); 
153,964  bytes.  This  is  a  shell  for  all  of 
the  most  popular  archiving  products, 
such  as  PKZip  and  LHARC.  This 
does  not  actually  include  the  archiv- 
ing products,  which  must  be  down- 
loaded or  purchased  separately. 

DOS 

Here  are  some  of  the  most  popular 
DOS  shareware  and  freeware  pack- 
ages on  CompuServe. 

1.  Ur^BDVR.EXE:  40,389  bytes.  This 
utility  uses  shadow  RAM  to  provide 
upper  memory  and  XMS  to  provide 
EMS  for  DOS  5.  It  loads  high. 

2.  LXEX91.ZIP;  43,975  bytes.  It  com- 
presses EXE  files  (typically  30-40 
percent)  while  leaving  the  files  exe- 
cutable. Warning:  Screen  messages 
are  in  French. 


3.  TSR.COM;  75,277  bytes.  This  is  a 
library  of  TSR  management  utilities 
including  the  well-known  utilities 
Mark  and  Release. 

4.  FDATE.ZIP;  60,477  bytes.  This 
utility  allows  you  to  use  date  manipu- 
lation in  batch  files.  Use  it  to  put  the 
date  of  your  choice  into  an  environ- 
ment variable. 

5.  JCScroll  (filename  JCSCRO.ZIP), 
8202  bytes.  This  TSR  screen-scrolling 
utility  lets  you  scroll  She  screen  back- 
ward to  see  information  that  has 
scrolled  upward  off  the  screen. 

6.  VIRX.ZIP;  107.708  bytes.  This  virus 
scanner  has  1300  virus  strings  and 
will  identify  over  1400  viruses, 

7.  DIET  (filename  D1ET14.ZIP); 
40,925  bytes.  This  utility  compresses 
executable  files  and  data  files.  It 
decompresses  and  compresses  on 
the  fly  as  a  TSR,  thus  saving  disk 
space. 

8.  PRINDIR  (filename  PRINDl.ZIP); 
28,328  bytes.  This  TSR  allows  redi- 
rection of  printer  output  from  one  LPT 
or  COM  port  to  another  port,  to  a  disk 
file,  or  to  the  screen. 

9.  MEMKIT.ZIP;  140,547  bytes.  This 
creates  upper  memory  from  shadow 
RAM  and  loads  TSRs  and  device  dri- 
vers into  high  memory  on  8088s  and 
80286s. 

10.  LIST  Plus  (filename  LIST77.EXE); 
108,729  bytes.  This  file  browser  and 
viewer  includes  menuing,  selective 
printing,  and  a  telephone  dialer. 


can  be  fairly  sure  that  the  product  is 
useful.  On  the  other  hand,  many 
shareware  collections  proudly  claim  to 
include  every  shareware  program  the 
distributors  could  find,  actually  taking 
pride  in  being  indiscriminate  about 
what  they  include. 

Generally,  you  get  better  support 
for  commercial  programs,  including 
better  help  screens,  better  manuals, 
and  better  telephone  support.  As  a 
rule,  a  programmer  who  can  write  an 
excellent  program  probably  can't 
write  a  good  instruction  manual.  With 
a  commercial  program,  the  manual, 
packaging,  and  other  components 
were  probably  created  by  different 
specialists.  The  program  itself  was 
probably  written  by  a  team — each 
programmer  specializing  in  a  particu- 
lar module.  Most  shareware  pro- 

62      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER    1993 


grams  are  individual  efforts;  the  pro- 
grammer is  the  manual  writer,  the 
tutorial  writer,  and  the  technical  sup- 
port department. 

Another  disadvantage  of  a  single- 
author  effort  is  bad  programming 
habits.  All  programmers  have  them, 
and  they  range  from  simple  typos  and 
crude  menus  to  calculation  mistakes. 
With  multiple  programmers  it's  less 
likely  that  mistakes  will  get  by. 

The  best  shareware  eventually 
becomes  commercialware.  The  author 
may  suddenly  realize  that  a  product  is 
popular  enough  to  start  a  one-product 
business.  A  program  may  be  pur- 
posely first  introduced  as  shareware 
to  evaluate  users'  responses:  what 
features  they  want,  which  features  are 
confusing,  which  features  cause  the 
program  to  freeze  solid.  Or  a  software 


publisher  may  offer  to  purchase  a 
product.  When  this  happens,  the  last 
shareware  version  often  remains  on 
bulletin  boards  as  an  advertisement 
for  the  commercial  product, 

Even  with  the  limitations,  there  are 
many  good  shareware  products  that 
are  certainly  worth  searching  for.  But 
is  it  worth  paying  $1  to  $5  per  disk 
and  sifting  through  hundreds  of  share- 
ware programs  until  you  find  one  you 
want?  Again,  Sturgeon's  Law  applies. 
It's  best  to  assume  that  the  good 
products  you  find  will  make  up  for  the 
effort  of  winnowing  the  rest.  Under  the 
worst  circumstances,  you  can  always 
reformat  the  disk  and  partially  recoup 
your  loss  with  a  blank  disk. 

Occasionally,  you  will  find  share- 
ware specials.  In  an  effort  to  reduce 
stock  or  use  it  as  a  loss  leader  to  get 


AllVKRTISKMriNr 


TECHNOLOGY  UPDATE 


900  MHz  breakthrough! 

New  technology  launches 
wireless  speaker  revolution. . . 

Recoton  develops  breakthrough  technology  which  transmits 
stereo  sound  through  walls,  ceilings  and  floors  up  to  ISO  feet. 


^^  ' 


By  Charles  Anton 

If  you  had  to  name  just 
one  new  product  "She 
most  innovative  of  the 
year,"  what  would  you 
choose?  Well,  at  the  recent  hiteniatioim! 
CMiisiiiucr  EUrtnmics  Shnr,  critics  gave  Recoion's 
new  wireless  stereo  speaker  system  the  Design 
and  Engiiiemng  Award 
for  being  the  "most  in- 
novative and  outstand- 
ing new  product." 

Recoton  \vas  able  to 
introduce  this  whole 
new  generation  of 
powerful  wireless 
speakers  due  to  the  ad- 
vent of  90(1  MHz  tech- 
nology. This  newly 
approved  breakthrough 
enables  Recoton's  \vii^ 
less  speakers  to  rival  the 
sound  of  expensive 
wired  speakers. 
Recently  approved 
technology.  In  June 
of  1989,  the  Federal 
Communications  Com- 
mission allocated  a 
band  of  radio  frequen- 
cies stretching  from  902 
to  928  MHz  for  wireless, 
in-home  product  ap- 
plications. Recoton,  one 
of  the  world's  leading  wireless  speaker  man- 
ufacturers, took  ad\'antage  of  the  FCC  ruling 
by  creating  and  introducing  a  now  speaker 
system  thai  utilizes  the  recently  approved  fre- 
quency band  to  transmit  clearer,  stronger 
stereo  signals  throughout  your  home. 


1 50  foot  range  through  walls! 

Recoton  gives  you  the  freedom  to  lis- 
ten to  music  wherever  you  want.  Your 
music  is  no  longer  limited  to  the  room  your 
stereo  is  in.  With  the  wireless  headphones 
you  can  listen  to  your  TV,  stereo  or  CD 
player  while  you  move  freely  between 
rooms,  exercise  or  do  other  activities.  And 
unlike  infrared  headphones,  you  cion't  have 
to  be  in  a  line-of-sight  with  the  transmit- 
ter, giving  you  a  full  1 50  loot  range. 

The  headphones  and  speakers  have 
their  own  built-in  receiver,  so  no  wires  are 
needed  between  you  and  your  stereo.  One 
transmitter  operates  an  unlimited  number 
of  speakers  and  headphones, 


n,    4 


Wirijrojj':;  rmiisiHiHer  st'rrrfi  muik  {hrvii^h  \vii\h 


Crisp  sound  throughout  your 
home.  Just  imagine  being  able  to 
isten  to  your  stereo,  TV,  VCR  or  CD 
player  in  any  room  of  your  home  with- 
out having  to  run  miles  of  speaker  wire. 
Plus,  you'll  never  have  to  worry  about  range 
because  the  new  900  Ml-iz  toclinology  allows 
stereo  signals  to  travel 
over  distances  of  150  feet 
or  more  through  walls, 
ceilings^and  floors  with- 
out losing  sound  quality. 

One  transmitter,  un- 
limited receivers.  The 

powerful  transmitter 
plugs  into  a  headphone, 
audio-out  or  tape-out  jack 
on  your  stereo  or  TV  com- 
ponent, transmitting  mu- 
sic wirelessly  to  your 
speakers  or  headphones. 
The  speakers  plug  into  an 
outlet.  The  one  transmit- 
ter can  broadcast  to  an  un- 
limited iiumbcr  of  stereo 
speakers  and  headphones. 
And  since  each  speaker 
contains  its  own  built  in 
receiver /amplifier,  there 
are  no  wires  running  from 
the  stereo  to  the  speakers. 
Full  dynamic  range. 
The  speaker,  mounted  in 
a  bookshelf-sized  acoustically  constructed  cab- 
inet, provides  a  two-way  bass  reflex  design 
for  individual  bass  boost  control.  Full  dynamic 
range  is  achieved  by  the  use  of  a  T  tweeter 
and  4"  woofer.  Plus,  automatic  digital  lock-in 


m^T^ 


dd. 


il 


AWARD   WINNING    WIRELESS   SPEAKER 


Til  Fillip' 


.  Tiiiii'it  fvrt^ 
,  4  "  aiXj/tY 


Indkidiuil  left,  right 

IfJwiiiiult  Jm.«  boost 
fotllrtil  fiiij  hii'k) 


iia>.  9-H  X  6-W  X  5.6'L 

■.•.:)hil-tij-uoiA'mtic:  60  dB 

hiiincl  Sf;iflnrti(wi:  30  dB 

:'uv-way  bas?  rt^x  liKtgn 

10  :ivlls!ihiniv^  RA1S  itmp> 

frafUttiL-y  RjfSfvnsf: 

50  hlz-15  KHz 


Don't  take  our  word  for  it.  Try  it  yourself. 
We're  so  sure  you'll  love  the  new  award'Winning 
Recoton  wireless  speaker  system  that  we  offer 
you  the  Dare  to  Compare  Speaker  Challenge. 

Compare  Recoton's  rich  sound  quaiify  to  that  of 
any  S200  wired  speaker.  If  you're  not  completely 
convinced  thai  these  wireless  speakers  offer  the 
same  outstanding 
sound  quality  as  wired 
speakers,  simply  retum 
them  within  90  days  for 
a  full  "No  Questions 
Asked'  refund. 

Raolcm'f  Disign  rtpirf 
Engineering  Auvrd 


BrenklhrmiKh  wirflcsf  speaker desigti 
blaiikiis  t/oiir  liotne  loilh  music. 

tuning  guarantees  optimum  reception  and 
eliminates  drift.  The  new  technology'  prowdes 
static-free,  interference-free  sound  in  virtual- 
ly any  environment.  TItese  speakers  are  also 
self-amplified;  they  can't  be  blown  out  no  mat- 
ter what  vour  stereo's  wattage. 

Stereo  or  hi-fi,  you  decide.  These  speak- 
ers have  the  option  of  either  stereo  or  hi-fi 
sound.  You  can  use  two  speakers,  one  set  on 
right  channel  and  the  other  on  left,  for  full 
stereo  separation.  Or,  if  you  just  want  an  ex- 
tra speaker  in  another  room,  set  it  on  mono  and 
listen  to  both  channels 
on  one  speaker.  Mono 
combines  both  left  and 
right  channels  for  hi-fi 
sound.  This  option  lets 
you  put  a  pair  of  speak- 
ers in  the  den  and  get 
full  stereo  separation  or 
pu  t  one  speaker  in  the  ^^,^,^,  -,i,ireiess  stereo 
kitchen  and  get  com-  hendi'lioiies hniv n 
plete  hi-fi  sound.  hiiill-iii  receivei. 

Factory  direct  savings.  Because  of  our  com- 
mitment to  quality  and  our  factory  direct  pric- 
ing, we  sell  more  wireless  speakers  than 
anyone!  For  this  reason,  you  can  get  these 
speakers  far  belo\v  retail  with  our  90  day  "Dnre 
to  Coinpnrc"  money-back  guarantee  and  full 
tnainifacturer's  warranty.  Through  this  limit- 
ed time  offer,  the  Recoton  trarismitter  is  only 
S(')9.  It  will  operate  an  unlimited  number  of 
wireless  speakers  priced  at  only  S89  and  wire- 
less headphones  at  S59  each.  So  take  advan- 
tage of  this  special  offer  to  fill  your  home  with 
music.  Your  order  will  be  processed  in  72  hours. 

Recoton  Transmitter S69  S4S4H 

Wireless  products  compatible  with  the  Recoton  transmitter: 

Recoton  Wireless  Speaker S89  S6  S&h 

Recoton  Wireless  Headphones $59  S4  s&h 

Please  mention  promotional  code161-CU11tl3. 
For  fastest  service  cail  loll-free  24  hours  a  day 

800-992-?966 

•■■■  A??ER^wl 

To  order  by  mail  send  cht'ck  nr  money  ordtr  for  Ihe  total 
atmoiint  induding  S&H  (VA  residt'iils  ,idd  4.5%  sales  tax). 
Or  cliargi.'  it  to  your  cTL'dit  c*ird  by  L'nclosLng  your  account 
lumilxT  and  exp.  dato.  Send  to: 


INDUSTRIES 

2820  Waterford  Lake  Drive  Suite  106 
Midlothian,  Virginia  23113 


Shareware  Sources 

Finto  Software 

Shareware  Central 

Rte.  2,  Box  44 

P.O.  Box  897 

Here  is  a  list  of  some  sources  for 

Rosebud,  TX  76570 

29  Erie  St.  N 

shareware.  Remember  that  share- 

(817)583-2151 

Wheatley,  ON 

ware  is  also  available  for  download- 

Canada NOP  2P0 

ing  from  online  services  and  bulletin 

Free  Spirit  Software 

(519)  825-7480 

board  services. 

720  Sycamore  St. 

Columbus,  IN  47201 

SoftShoppe 

American  Software 

(800)  638-5757 

P.O.  Box  247 

P.O.  Box  509,  Ste,  M22 

(812)  376-9964 

Artesia,  CA  90701 

Roseville,  M\  48066 

(800)  829-2378 

IkeaMo  Enterprises 

(310)802-1333 

The  Amish  Outlaw 

255  W.  SOON 

3705  Richmond  Ave, 

Howe,  IN  46746 

Software  Labs 

Staten  Island,  NY  10312 

(219)463-5246 

100  Corporate  Pointe,  Ste.  195 

(800)  947-4346 

Culver  City,  CA  90231 

M  &  M  Computing 

(800)  569-7900 

Bright  Futures 
P.O.  Box  1030 

43  Maple  St. 

(310)410-3040 

Newburgh,  NY  12550 

E.  Windsor,  CT  06088 

(914)569-0510 

Software  of  the  Month  Club 

(800)  235-3475 

5816  Dryden  PI. 

PC  Shareware 

Carlsbad,  CA  92008 

Caloke  Industries 

1 763  Garnet  Ave. 

(619)931-8111 

P.O.  Box  18477 

San  Diego,  CA  92109 

Raytown,  MO  64133 

(800)447-2181 

Software  Twenty  Twenty 

(816)478-6185 

(619)  272-6673 

P.O.  Box  1078 
Lorton,  VA  22079 

Chestnut  CD-ROf^fl 

PCSIG 

(800)800-3122 

222  Third  St.,  Ste.  3212 

1030  E.  DuaneAve.,Ste.  D 

(703)  339-0961 

Cambridge,  MA  02142 

Sunnyvale,  CA  94086 

(617)864-8326 

(800)245-6717 

Value  Software 

Y  Nl'        t        '          JF         ^rf    ■-#          1            ^.J'm^^—X^ 

(408)  730-9291 

P.O.  Box  4638 

Christella  Enterprise 
P,0,  Box  82205 

Pendragon  Software  Library 

Medford,  OR  97501 

Rochester,  f\/1f  48307 

P.O.  Box  56 

Walnut  Creek  CD-ROM 

E.  Greenwich.  Rl  02818 

1547  Palos  Verdes,  Ste,  260 

Compro  Software 
P.O,  Box  4426 

(800)  828-3475 

Walnut  Creek,  CA  94596 

(401)884-6825 

(800)  786-9907 

Star  City,  WV  26504 

(510)674-0783 

(304)599-7183 

The  Profit  Group 
2956  N.  Campbell  Ave. 

Windows  900 

Crosley  Software 
Box  276 

Tucson,  AZ  85719 
(800)  843-7990 

P,0.  60x85178 

Las  Vegas,  NV  89185 

Alburg,  VT  05440 

(602)  577-9696 

(702)  386-8048 

(514)  739-9328 

Save-On  Software 

Disks  O'Plenty 

8362  Pines  Blvd.,  Ste.  270 

P.O.  Box  1312 
Wilkes-Barre,  PA  18703 

Pembroke  Pines,  PL  33024 

(800)962-6107 

(305)  963-7750 

(717)822-9531 

more  sales  elsewhere,  a  distributor 
might  charge  a  dollar  or  less  for 
each  shareware  disk,  or  $20-$30  for 
a  CD-ROM  with  500MB  of  shareware. 
If  you  can  find  shareware  at  those 
prices,  it's  difficult  to  go  wrong. 

Strictly  Business 

In  addition  to  programs,  you  can  find 
excellent  shareware  data  files.  For 
example,  you  can  get  an  entire  library 
of  prewritten  generic  business  corre- 
spondence as  text  files  that  you  can 
load  into  your  word  processor  and 
edit  to  suit  your  needs.  You'll  find  pre- 
made  spreadsheet  and  desktop  pub- 

64      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER    1993 


lishing  templates,  and  a  museum's 
worth  of  clip  art. 

It's  not  unlikely  that  you  could 
start  and  run  a  business  office  using 
shareware  exclusively.  At  some 
point  you  might  want  to  move  to 
commercial  software,  but  there's  no 
less  expensive  or  less  risky  way  to 
get  started. 

The  high  popularity  of  shareware 
has  forced  the  software  industry  to 
become  more  competitive.  Originally, 
commercial  software  publishers 
looked  down  on  shareware  products 
as  amateurish  and  unsophisticated. 
But  as  shareware  has  proliferated,  it 


has  influenced  the  commercial  soft- 
ware industry.  Many  commercial  prod- 
ucts have  reduced  their  prices  to 
become  more  competitive  with  share- 
ware products,  and  new  releases 
often  include  features  first  introduced 
in  shareware  products. 

The  personal  computer  industry 
has  its  roots  in  the  garage  operations 
of  people  like  Steve  Jobs,  Steve 
Wozniak,  Paul  Allen,  and  Bill  Gates. 
What  are  the  struggling  little  garage- 
style  operations  of  today  up  to?  By 
the  hundreds,  they're  writing,  debug- 
ging, and  distributing  shareware  of 
every  deschption.  □ 


THE  r.rrn'!iajR''.Ar 


tO^iy  fi  hK-'^-*  I.  «-  j-Tfrta'—  'i^i  ^  ■  - 


.^^^'t 


M 


|:(rfMJw>.  W.  >..inlM>i>v»-.  MtlifuW  tl 

«•>.  Wl    kivt  l-IWH  *a  Uwli  (  )4rflU  tl  Qltl 


%t<u 


tt--^l    ~g~ 


1    W'^^S^. ' 
..?n>,»>J.— — ..- 


■     Authentic  historic  imerludes/aithjutly  recreate  the 
^"■-'Vs    ■•  atmosphere  of  (he  period! 


Where  will j^a«/  fire  the  first  shot? 

Recreate  the  power  and  excitement  of  the  Civil  War!  As  the 
leader  of  either  side  in  this  challenging  simulation,  you 
recruit,  train  and  direct  your  armies  around  the  American 
countryside.  When  two  armies  clash,  fight  out  a  Micro  Miniatures 
battle  in  fast,  high-resolution  animation!  Historically  authentic, 
The  Blue  and  the  Gray  features  up  to  200  animated  figures  per 
battle,  naval  units  and  blockades,  river  and  rail  transport, 
breathtaking  graphics  atmospheric  sound  and  music. 

Includes  a  FREE  copy  of  a  specially  commissioned  book  on  the  civil  War'. 


Wauiifoiir  armies  battle  in/asi.  high-resolurion 
animation 


Impressions 


circle  Reader  Service  Number  11 7 

^  ®( 993  Impresstons  Software  Inc  IBM  PC  VGA  Screenshols 

Impressions  Sollware,  inc.  222  Third  Street,  Suite  234,  Cambridge  MA  021  <12 


PRODUCTIVITY  CHOICE 


It's  the  less  publicized 

features  of  this  upgrade  that  make 

it  so  attractive. 

Mark  Minasi 


Mc_nnc  L 


MS-DOS  6  is  the  latest  ver- 
sion of  Microsoft's  best-selling 
operating  system,  The  DOS  6 
features  that  you  probably 
haven't  heard  much  about  are, 
strangely,  the  ones  that  make 
the  upgrade  worthwhile. 
There's  a  lot  to  like  in  DOS  6, 

Probably  the  most  useful 
new  feature  is  MultiConfig,  If 
you  have  one  CONFIG, SYS 
{and  AUTOEXEC.BAT)  for 
your  normal  work,  another 
one  that  you  use  sometimes 
when  you  need  the  most  free 
memory,  another  that's  com- 
pletely vanilla,  and  perhaps 
one  other  to  play  Wing  Com- 
mander II,  then  you  have  to 
have  MultiConfig.  There  are 
boot  manager  programs,  but 
they  always  seemed  to  give 
me  heartburn  when  I  used 
them  with  OS/2  or  NT 

In  contrast,  MultiConfig  is  a 
fairly  simple  program  that's 
built  into  the  operating  sys- 
tem. It  lets  you  put  a  pile  of 
configurations  into  a  single  AU- 
TOEXEC. BAT/CON  FIG. SYS, 
and  two  keystrokes  let  you 
choose  a  specific  setup 
that's  right  for  today.  Best  of 
all,  it  coexists  with  other  oper- 
ating systems  with  no  muss, 
fuss,  or  greasy  aftertaste.  So 
I  call  MultiConfig  the  best  sin- 
gle reason  to  buy  DOS  6. 

But  that's  not  all  there  is  to 
this  upgrade.  The  memory 
manager  is  better,  although 
it  isn't  perfect  (yet).  The 
EMM386.  EXE/HI  MEM. SYS 
two-part  memory  manager 
shipped  with  DOS  5  is  a 
good  basic  memory  manag- 
er. It's  particularly  well  adapt- 
ed to  working  with  Windows, 
and  it  can  accomplish  about 
90  percent  of  what  a  full- 
blown memory  manager  like 
QEMM-386  or  386Max  can 
do,  DOS  5's  memory  manag- 
es       COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


er  really  lacks  only  two  impor- 
tant tools:  program  placement 
and  program  squeezing,  On 
that  front,  when  we  look  at 
DOS  6,  there's  some  good 
news,  and  there's  some  bad 
news. 

Program  placement  makes 
it  possible  to  say  to  the  mem- 
ory manager,  "Not  only  do  I 
want  to  load  this  program 
high — into  an  upper  memory 
block — but  I  also  want  to 
load  it  to  this  particular  loca- 
tion." DOS  5  can't  do  this,  but 
DOS  6  can.  That's  the  good 
news. 

But  what  about  program 
squeezing?  Program  squeez- 
ing is  necessary  when  you're 
trying  to  load  a  program  that 
seems  very  large  when  it  be- 
gins loading  but  then  settles 
down  to  a  small  memory  foot- 
print. Such  a  yo-yo  program 
can  cause  a  memory  manag- 
er to  erroneously  refuse  to 
load  the  program  high.  What 
happens  is  that  the  memory 
manager  sees  the  program  in 
its  initial  huge  configuration 
and  reckons  that  a  program 
that  large  will  be  unable  to  fit 
into  the  upper  memory  area. 
As  a  consequence,  the  mem- 


ory manager  loads  the  pro- 
gram into  low  memory. 

A  squeeze  feature  allows 
you  to  inform  your  memory 
manager  that  a  program  is  a 
yo-yo.  Duly  informed,  the  mem- 
ory manager  will  exercise  a  lit- 
tle patience  and  load  the  pro- 
gram high  on  the  basis  of  its 
final  load  size,  not  on  its  over- 
stated initial  load  size.  Other 
memory  managers  have  this 
capability,  but — here's  the 
bad  news— DOS  6  doesn't. 
Maybe  next  time? 

Next  on  the  list  of  new  fea- 
tures is  Interlnk.  If  you  travel, 
you'll  appreciate  Interlnk.  I  trav- 
el all  the  time,  so  there  are 
few  weekdays  that  I'm  writing 
with  my  desktop  machines. 
Sunday  through  Thursday 
nights,  1  bang  out  PC  prose 
on  my  notebook.  And  when  I 
return  home,  I  want  to  easily 
move  the  fruits  of  my  labors 
to  one  of  my  desktop  ma- 
chines. But  shuffling  floppies 
around  is  a  pain.  I've  tried  Lap- 
Link — all  the  pundits  say  that 
it's  the  best — but  I  find  its  men- 
us confusing.  DOS  6's  serial/ 
parallel  file  transfer  program, 
Interlnk,  is  exactly  what  I've 
been  looking  for. 


Interink  lets  me  connect 
two  machines  parallel  port  to 
parallel  port  and  load  a  de- 
vice driver.  Then  one  of  the 
machines  acts  like  a  LJ\N  serv- 
er. I  had  an  extra  parallel 
port,  so  I  installed  it  in  my 
desktop  machine  as  LPT2 
and  put  a  parallel  transfer  ca- 
ble on  it.  Now,  when  I  come 
home,  I  just  plug  the  other 
end  of  the  cable  into  the  par- 
allel port  on  my  notebook  com- 
puter, run  Interink  (I  don't 
even  have  to  mess  with  CON- 
FIG.SYS—I have  MultiConfig 
set  to  offer  an  Interink  option- 
al setup),  and  voila!  My  note- 
book connputer  now  has  a 
new  drive,  E.  Drive  E  is,  of 
course,  really  drive  C  on  my 
desktop  machine.  An  Xcopy 
command  or  two,  and  my  da- 
ta's transferred. 

I  find  the  new  DOS  online 
help  to  be  of  great  value 
when  i'm  editing  a  CON- 
FIG.SYS file.  (What  were 
those  Interink  parameters, 
anyway?)  And  while  I've  al- 
ways had  virus  scanner  pro- 
grams around,  DOS's  built-in 
virus  scanner  is  OK.  That 
means  that  carrying  DOS 
disks  around  with  me  will 
serve  the  virus-scanning  func- 
tion, allowing  me  to  carry  few- 
er disks. 

Up  through  DOS  5.  batch 
files  could  talk,  but  they 
couldn't  listen.  However, 
that's  no  longer  true.  There's 
a  new  batch  command 
called  CHOICE,  which  allows 
your  batch  files  to  prompt  for 
single-character  answers.  Fur- 
thermore, the  CtHOICE  com- 
mand can  be  used  in  a  timer 
role.  You  can  use  CHOICE  as 
a  kind  of  poor  man's  time 
activator, 

Undeletion  capabilities  ap- 
peared in  DOS  5.  but  DOS  6 
takes  undeletion  a  step  fur- 
ther in  reliability  with  a  feature 


called  Delete  Sentry  Once  ac- 
tivated, Delete  Sentry  pre- 
vents DOS  from  actually  eras- 
ing fries  when  you  issue  a  Del 
or  Erase  command.  Instead, 
DOS  moves  the  files  to  a  hid- 
den directory.  It  holds  them 
there  for  a  while  (you  can  de- 
fine a  while  however  you 
like),  which  gives  you  a 
chance  to  change  your  mind 
and  restore  the  files  later. 

DOS  6's  new  features 
bring  with  them  some  oppor- 
tunities for  trouble,  as  is  the 
case  with  all  new  pieces  of 
software.  In  particular,  you 
may  want  to  be  careful  about 
installing  DoubleSpace,  the 
new  disk  compression  rou- 
tine. If  you  do  plan  to  use  Dou- 
bleSpace, try  doing  a  few 
things  to  minimize  the 
chance  that  you'll  stumble  on 
the  path  to  more  disk  space. 
First,  prepare  your  disk  be- 
fore installing  DoubleSpace  (it 
isn't  installed  automatically; 
you  install  DOS  6  and  type 
dblspace  when  you're  ready 
to  start  using  this  feature). 

DoubleSpace  has  a  hard 
job,  so  It's  a  good  idea  to 
make  the  job  as  easy  as  pos- 
sible for  it.  Clean  your  disk  by 
getting  rid  of  any  extra  disk 
files;  get  rid  of  anything  that 
you  haven't  used  in  a  while. 
Then  defragment  your  disk 
with  the  new  Defrag  com- 
mand. Finally,  do  not  com- 
press the  entirety  of  your  C 
drive;  instead,  let  Dou- 
bleSpace create  a  new  drive 
out  of  the  empty  space  on 
your  C  drive.  If  you  find  it  nec- 
essary, remove  some  things 
from  C,  create  a  new  drive 
from  the  empty  space,  and 
then  restore  the  files  to  the 
new  drive.  Be  aware  that  the 
new  SMARTDrive  requires 
that  you  reboot  your  system 
by  executing  a  Ctrl-Alt-Delete 
keystroke  combination — don't 


use  your  reset  switch!  Keep 
that  in  mind,  and  you'll  be 
able  to  get  up  and  running 
with  more  disk  space  in  short 
order. 

DOS  6's  Memfvlaker  will  or- 
ganize your  memory  manager 
to  give  you  more  memory, 
and  you  will  probably  v/ant  to 
run  it  soon  after  installing 
DOS  6.  But  heed  one  word  of 
advice:  Don't  run  Express  Set- 


IBM  PC  or 
compatible,  51 2K 
RAM,  floppy  drive; 
mouse  opllonal— 
<;i  29.95 


DoubleSpsci:  Info 


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Up,  Run  Custom  Setup  in- 
stead; you'll  eventually  see 
the  question  Search  upper 
memory  aggressively?  Re- 
spond by  answering  no;  then 
let  'er  rip!  You  may  find  your- 
self with  more  RAM  than  ever 
before.  (All  of  a  sudden,  run- 
ning Wing  Commander  with 
the  sound  effects  becomes 
possible,) 

DOS  6  is  a  good  buy;  it's 
an  even  better  buy  if  you 
take  a  close  look  at  some  of 
its  less  publicized  features.  If 
you  didn't  go  for  this  upgrade 
when  It  was  offered  at  a  spe- 
cial introductory  price,  don't 
feel  too  bad.  At  least  you  can 
still  get  it — and  the  new  utili- 
ties bundled  with  it  definitely 
justify  the  cost,  lI 

circle  Reader  Service  Nuinber  391 


MICROSOFT 
1  Microsoft  Way 
Redmond,  WA 
98052-6399 
(80Q)  426-9400 


SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        67 


PERSONAL  PRODUCTIVITY 


Rosalind  B.  Resnick 


COMDEX 
HIGHLIGHTS 


Home  and 

smalt 

office  productivity 

boosters 

sliowcased  at 

COIVIDEX 


68 


COMPUTE 


For  computer  professionals 
worldwide,  COMDEX  offers  a 
dazzling  array  of  high-tech 
gadgetry.  But  COMDEX  also 
features  plenty  for  the  home  of- 
fice user,  and  this  spring's 
show  in  Atlanta  was  no  excep- 
tion. Stashed  among  ttie 
splashy  displays  of  high-end 
products  were  lots  of  offerings 
capable  of  boosting  produc- 
tivity without  busting  your 
bank  account. 

Here  are  several  new  hard- 
ware and  software  releases 
that  caught  my  eye: 

The  Microsoft  tVlouse. 
Reengineered  to  be  more  er- 
gonomically  correct,  Micro- 
soft's mitten-shaped  pointing 
device  won't  make  you  reach 
for  the  Motrin  at  the  end  of  the 
day.  Capable  of  being  used 
with  equal  comfort  in  either 
hand,  the  new,  improved 
mouse  is  designed  to  boost 
your  speed  and  efficiency 
when  you're  working  with  one 
of  Microsoft's  better-known 
products,  Windows.  Mouse 
mashers  will  also  enjoy  the 
snazzy,  new  software  driver 
that  minimizes  mouse  move- 
ment on  the  screen  with  fea- 
tures like  Snap  To,  which  auto- 
matically snaps  the  cursor  to 
the  default  button  in  Windows' 
dialog  boxes,  and  Locate, 
which  returns  the  cursor  to  the 
center  of  the  screen  if  you  mo- 
mentarily lose  it.  The  serial 
and  mouse  port  versions  cost 
$109.00  each;  the  driver  atone 
sells  for  SI 9.95. 

PackRat  5.0.  Polaris  Soft- 
ware's award-winning  person- 
al information  manager  for  Win- 
dows has  been  totally  re- 
vamped, so  you  can  spend 
less  time  figuring  out  how  to 
use  it  and  more  tinne  putting  it 
to  work.  New  features  include 
customizable  folders,  forms, 
and  lists;  electronic  mail  capa- 
bility; full  integration  with  oth- 

SEPTEMBER  1993 


er  Windows  applications;  mac- 
ro scripts  and  a  programming 
language;  and  SmartStart  cus- 
tomized workspaces  for  law- 
yers, managers,  and  other  pro- 
fessionals. The  upgrade  costs 
$99;  the  stand-alone  version 
had  not  been  released  in 
stores  at  press  time. 

HP  100LX.  The  latest  ver- 
sion of  Hewlett-Packard's  pop- 
ular palmtop  PC  is  a  savvier 
road  warrior  than  the  original 
{the  HP  95LX).  The  HP  10GLX 
features  built-in  Lotus  cc;Mail 
Remote,  data  communica- 
tions, and  PC-software  compat- 
ibility for  number-crunchers  on 
the  go.  It  still  comes  in  a  trim 
black  case  and  weighs  in  at 
11  ounces,  but  the  guts  of  the 
machine  have  been  totally  re- 
designed. It  has  everything 
from  the  faster  CPU  to  the  high- 
er-resolution screen  to  the  in- 
teractive serial  port.  All  this  for 
only  $749  (list  price), 

PagePlus  2.0  for  Windows. 
This  full-featured  page  layout 
program  by  Serif  provides  a 
low-cost  alternative  to  such 
desktop  publishing  heavy- 
weights as  QuarkXPress  and 
Aldus  PageMaker.  PagePlus, 
which  retails  for  $59.95,  offers 
style  sheets,  floating  palettes, 
rotation  of  text  and  objects, 
kerning,  tracking,  text  filters  for 
a  variety  of  Windows  word  proc- 
essors, PANTONE  color  selec- 
tion, spot  and  process  color 
separations,  and  support  for 
Object  Linking  and  Embed- 
ding (OLE).  Serif  also  offers 
low-cost  add-on  packages 
such  as  TypePlus  ($19.95), 
which  lets  you  manipulate 
text,  and  FontPack  One 
($19.95),  which  offers  100 
TrueType  fonts. 

TravelMate  4000E  WinDX2/ 
50.  If  you  have  some  extra  mon- 
ey burning  a  hole  in  your  pock- 
et, consider  Texas  Instru- 
ments' hot  new  486  color  note- 
book ($4,999),  which  gives 
you  alt  the  power  of  a  desktop 
PC  in  a  slim  6.2-pound  case. 
The  newest  TravelMate  fea- 


tures a  brilliant  640  x  480 
VGA  display  a  high-speed  vid- 
eo system  for  iightning-fast 
graphics,  advanced  Bat- 
teryPro  power  management 
for  longer  battery  life,  and  a 
full-travel  keyboard  with  1 2  sep- 
arate function  keys  plus  dedi- 
cated Page  Up,  Page  Down, 
Home,  and  End  keys. 

Stacker  Special  Edition.  Un- 
willing to  let  DOS  6's  new  Dou- 
bleSpace data  compression 
utility  go  unchallenged,  Stac 
Electronics  rolled  out  Stacker 
Special  Edition  ($49.95)  at  the 
show,  trumpeting  it  as  a  low- 
cost  solution  for  computer  us- 
ers leery  of  trusting  their  valu- 
able data  to  a  first-generation 
product,  The  new  Stacker,  de- 
signed only  for  PCs  with  DOS 
6  already  installed,  replaces 
DoubleSpace  with  Stacker 
files  and  adds  such  features 
as  Stackometer,  which  lets 
you  monitor  your  hard  drive's 
data  compression  ratio,  and 
Stacker  Tuner,  which  lets  you 
balance  speed  and  space. 
Stacker  Special  Edition  also 
lets  you  use  powerful  DOS  com- 
mands like  Dir,  Chkdsk,  and 
Defrag  on  your  Stacker 
drives. 

QmodemPro  1.5  and  Qmo- 
dem  for  Windows.  Mustang 
Software's  latest  releases  let 
you  send  and  receive  electron- 
ic mail  using  one  integrated 
program  regardless  of  the  orig- 
inating E-mail  source.  Version 
1 .5's  new  Remote  Imaging  Pro- 
tocol (RIP)  emulation  allows 
callers  to  view  full-screen 
graphics  and  use  a  mouse 
when  connected  to  an  online 
bulletin  board  system  with  RIP 
support.  The  Windows  version 
lets  you  view  GIF  images  dur- 
ing transfer  (with  magnify 
mode  for  closeups);  it  also  sup- 
ports DDE  and  drag-and- 
drop  capabilities  for  file  selec- 
tion and  message  text. 

With  productivity  boosters 
like  these,  you  won't  need  to 
spend  like  a  power  user  to  get 
your  office  up  to  speed.      3 


HIPS  &  BITS  inc. 

IBM  MAC  &  AMIGA  GAMES  FOR  LESS 

Shipping  10  US,PR,AK,HI,APO  &  FPO  S4  per  order.  Air  Mail  lo  Canada  SB  per  order.  Handling  SI  per  shipment 
^"■"■"-Ws  Day  Air  US  S6  per  order;  PR,  HI  512  1st  Item  *  S2  ea.  add'l;  AK  St9  1st  Item  +  S2  ea.  add'l.  Handling  SI  per  shipment. 
p.  America  Air  Mall  $19  Ul  Item  +  $S  ea.  add'l.  Aala,  Australta,  Africa,  Air  Mall  S25  tst  Item  +  S6  ea.  add'l.  Handling  $1 


PO  Box  234 
.Chester,  VT  05767 
Call  800-600-4263 
Infl  802-767-3033 
Fax  802-767-3382 


IBM  HARDWARE 


AdLib  Sound  Card 

$39 

Adiib  Gold  Sound  Card 

$149 

Adv.  Gravis  Ultrasound 

S139 

Flight  Stick  Joystick 

$36 

Rightstick  Pro 

$55 

Maxx  Cobra  Flightstick 

$54 

Media  Concept 

S72 

Pro  Audio  Spectrum  16 

S17S 

Sound  Blaster  16  ASP 

$21 9 

Sound  Blaster  Deluxe 

$S9 

Sound  Blaster  Pro  DIx 

$129 

Sound  Galaxy  BX2 

$65 

Sound  Galaxy  NX2 

S89 

Sound  Gaiaxy  NXPRO 

SI  25 

Snd  Galaxy  NXPRO  16 

SI  69 

Sound  Machine 

$99 

Thmslmaster  PCS 

S59 

Thrustmaster  PCS  Pro 

$99 

Thrustmaster  Game  Card  $27 

Thrustmaster  Rudder  CS 

$99 

Thmstmasler  WCS  2 

$99 

Voice  Blaster 

$69 

IBM  CD  ROM 

7th  Guest 

S56 

Buzz  Aldrin  Race  Space 

S59 

Campaign 

335 

Curse  of  Enchantia 

S26 

Day  of  the  Tentacle 

S45 

Dragon's  Lair 

S36 

EcoQuest 

$42 

European  Racers 

$44 

Eye  of  the  Beholder  3 

$48 

Hell  Cab 

$52 

Hi-Tech  Aircraft 

$43 

ndy  Jones  Fate  Altantis 

$52 

ron  Helix 

$60 

King's  Quest  6 

S48 

.egend  of  Kyrandia 

S49 

^ebelAsault 

$45 

Return  of  the  Phantom 

542 

Secret  Weap  Luftwaffe 

S48 

Star  Trek  25  Anniversary 

S46 

Stronghold 

S36 

Ultima  Underworld  1  &  2 

S52 

IBM  ADVENTURE 


Alone  in  the  Dark 

$36 

Amazon 

S36 

Batman  Returns 

S32 

Blue  Force:  Next  of  Kin 

$45 

Castle  Wolfstein 

$37 

Coaster 

$32 

Day  of  the  Tentacle 

$39 

Eric  the  Unready 

$38 

Etemam 

$36 

Flashback 

$33 

Fred  Pharkas  Frntir  Phrm 

$42 

King's  Quest  6  VGA 

$45 

Lords  of  the  Rising  Sun 

S34 

Master  of  Orion 

S45 

Out  of  this  World 

536 

Pepper's  Adventure  Time 

$29 

Police  Quest  4 

$46 

Prince  of  Persia  2 

S45 

Return  of  the  Phantom 

S42 

Return  to  Zork 

S38 

Hex  NebulrCos  Gen  Ben 

$39 

Riftwar  Legacy 

$39 

Space  Quest  5 

$39 

Star  Trek:  Next  Gen  ration  $46 

Starship 

$38 

Zool 

S34 

S^ 

'LINKS       386 

VlPi 

PRO'  offers  SU- 

PERVGAgraph- 

ics  and  advanced 

features      de- 

signed for  your 

^^^^j^^^^^ 

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^^^^3^^^^^^!?* 

features  include 

\  -                      ' '  '^^jf'  / 

computer  oppo- 

\ ^,                   ^^^/ 

nent,  save  game 

option  that  allows 

XT              .~'  ' 

your  friends  to 

play  against  you 

i« 

in  an  existing 

IBISifSNM^M 

game.  Play  at 

HarboufTownor 

p     yi  1  '«  ■  'V  V  T  Ri      <  I  T^  1 

Prr. 

use  tfie  add  on 

course  disks  for 

ffM-.V.HaS 

extfafun.      S36 

IBM  STRATEGY 


IBM  SIMULATION 


'SOUND  GALAXY  NX  PRO  16'  supports  the  5  most 
popular  sound  cards.  Features  CD  ROM  interface,  16  Bit 
stereo  playback  with  20  voices  at  up  to  14.4  KHz,  volume 
control,  midi  interface,  game  port,  &  software  setup.  $169 


A  Train 

$34 

Jump  Jet 

$39 

Airbucks 

$36 

Mantis  Experimental  Ftr 

$39 

Armada  2525 

$29 

Maximum  Overkill 

$44 

Ashes  of  Empire 

$48 

Mxmum  Overkill  Miss  1or2$28 

Battles  of  Destiny 

S36 

MegaFortress 

$12 

Breach  3 

S36 

Megafortress  Mega-Pak 

S3S 

Buzz  Aldrin  Race  Space 

$42 

Megafortress  Miss  1  or  2 

S26 

Caesar 

S36 

Privateer 

SS2 

Campaign  2 

$36 

Rags  to  Riches 

$36 

Capitalist  Pig  WIN 

$36 

Red  Baron 

$36 

Carrier  Command 

$9 

Seal  Team 

$42 

Carriers  at  War 

S37 

Strike  Commander 

$48 

Carriers  at  War  2 

$50 

Sub  War  2025 

$42 

Castles  2 

$36 

Syndicate 

$48 

Civilization 

$32 

Tie  Fighter 

$46 

Clash  of  Steel 

$42 

Tornado 

$52 

Conquered  Kingdoms 

$36 

Ultrabots  Sanction  Earth 

$39 

Discovery  Sip  Columbus 

$34 

Wing  Commander  1  DIx 

$48 

Empire  Deluxe 

$37 

Wing  Commander  2 

$48 

Fantasy  Empires 

$36 

Wing  Commndr  Academy 

$42 

Fields  of  Glory 

$36 

Wortd  Circuit 

S32 

Gobliiins2 

S24 

X-Wing 

540 

Lemmings  2:  Ttie  Tribes 

$32 

X-Wing  Mission  Disk  1 

S24 

Liberty  or  Death 

S37 
$19 
$44 
$23 

Lost  Admiral 

Lost  Admiral  Enhanced 

■  IBM  ROLEPLAYING 

Lost  Admiral  Seen  Disk 

Pacific  Theater  Ops 

$42 

ADD  Collector's  Edition  2 

S45 

Paladin  2 

$34 

Champions 

S37 

Perfect  General 

$32 

CHARACTER  EDITORS 

316 

Perfect  General  2 

$44 

Cobra  Mission 

S49 

Perfect  General  Seen  1 

$21 

Dark  Sun 

S48 

Perfect  General  Seen  2 

$23 

Darklands 

S39 

Powermonger 

$34 

Daughter  of  Serpents 

$32 

Railroad  Tycoon  2 

$52 

Dusk  of  the  Gods 

$24 

Red  Zone 

$32 

Elvira  2  Jaws  of  Cerbenjs  $19 

Rules  ol  Engagement  Z 

$38 

Eye  of  the  Beholder  1 

$19 

Second  Conflict  WIN 

$34 

Eye  of  the  Beholder  2 

$38 

Seven  Cities  Gold  2 

$38 

Eye  of  the  Beholder  3 

$42 

Shadow  President 

$39 

Legacy:  Realm  Of  Terror 

$34 

ShadowGateWIN 

$32 

Lure  of  the  Temptress 

$37 

Sid  Meir's  Civil  War 

$58 

Magic  Candle  3 

$38 

Siege 

$21 

MegaTravellerS 

$39 

Sim  City  2000 

$43 

Might  &  Magic  3 

$24 

Soldier  of  Foriune 

$42 

Might  &  Magic  4 

336 

Space  Hulk 

S38 

Might  &  Magic  5 

$42 

Spaceward  Ho!  DOSWIN  $38 

Pirates  Goid 

$42 

Star  Control  2 

$36 

Protostar 

S42 

StarM  aster 

$46 

Realms  of  Arkania 

$37 

Task  Force  1942 

$39 

Red  Crystal 

$38 

Tegel's  Mercenaries 

$38 

Speltoraft: Aspect  of  Valor 

$38 

Tegel's  Mercenaries  2 

$44 

Stonekeep 

$54 

War  in  the  Gulf 

$38 

Ultima  7  Black  Gate 

$48 

Warlords 

$12 

Ultima  7  Forge  of  Virtue 

318 

Wariords  2 

S42 

Ultima  7.5  Serpent  Isle 

$43 

When  Two  Worids  War 

$42 

Ultima  Trilogy 

$39 

Ultima  Trilogy  2 

S48 

IBM  SIMULATION 

Ultima  Undenvorld  1  or  2 
Unlimited  Adventures 
Veil  of  Darkness 

$48 
$38 

S37 

Visa  &  MC  Accepted.  CODs  S6.  Checks  Held  4  Weeks.  Money  Orders  Trcatsil  as 
Casll.  Mosl  ttems  Stiipped  Same  Day.  Shipping  times  nDt  guaranteed.  Cticck 
compatibility  t}e1orc  you  buy.  Detectives  replaced  with  same  product.  Price  A 
availability  subject  to  ctiange.  All  Sates  Final. 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  149 


A320  Airbus  S44 

Aces  Over  Europe  S42 

Aces  Europe  Mission  1or2  $27 
Aces  of  the  Pacific  $42 

Aces  Pacific  Mission  Disk  $27 
Air  Combat  Classic  $45 

Armoured  Fist  $38 

F15  Strike  Eagle  111  S44 

Falcon  3.0  $48 

Falcon  3  Seen  1  $24 

Falcon  3  Seen  2  Mig  29  $25 
Great  Naval  Battles  $44 

Great  Nav  Bat  America  Atl  $21 
Great  Nav  Bat  Super  Ship  $19 
Great  Nav  Bat  Seen  Build  $28 
Gunship  2000  $37 

Iron  Helix  $49 


Wizardry  6  Cosmic  Forge  S34 
Wizardry  7  Crusaders        S42 


IBM  SPORTS 


David  Robison  NBA  Action  S44 
Front  Page  Football  S39 

Hardball  3  $34 

Joe  Montana  Football  2  $42 
Links  Pro  386  Golf  $36 

Michael  Jordan  Flight  Sim  $38 
NFL  Challenge  Premium  $59 
QuarterPole  $39 

Tony  La  Russa  Baseball  2  $36 
Tony  LaRussa  92  Team     $12 
Wayne  Gretzky  Hockey  3  $39 
SEP  COM  1 


MULTIMEDIA  PC 


David  English 


Many  of  us  talk  to 

our  computers.  Now 

our  computers 

are  leaming  to  listen. 


COMPUTER, 
STATUS  REPORT 

When  you  hear  Captain  Picard 
casually  call  up  the  ship's  com- 
puter on  "Star  Trek:  The  Next 
Generation,"  do  you  ever  won- 
der when  you'll  be  able  to  con- 
trol your  own  computer  by 
voice?  We're  a  long  way  from 
having  intelligent  computers, 
but  simple  voice  recognition  soft- 
ware (also  called  speech  rec- 
ognition software)  has  finally  ar- 
rived. By  the  time  you  read  this, 
many  of  the  popular  sound 
cards  will  be  shipping  with 
some  form  of  voice  control  soft- 
ware. In  this  column,  I'll  discuss 
how  well  this  software  works, 
what's  available,  and  who 
might  want  to  use  this  futuristic 
technology. 

A  number  of  factors  deter- 
mine how  accurate  a  voice  rec- 
ognition program  will  be. 
These  include  how  well  the  soft- 
ware is  designed,  your  consis- 
tency in  pronouncing  the 
words,  the  number  of  com- 
mands that  are  active  (espe- 
cially similar-sounding  words), 
the  quality  of  your  microphone 
and  sound  card,  and  the  level 
of  background  noise. 

Most  voice  programs  are 
speaker-dependent,  which 
means  they  work  best  when 
you  train  them  to  your  own 
voice,  repeating  each  com- 
mand three  or  four  times  dur- 
ing an  initial  training  session. 
Most  programs  let  you  save 
multiple  command  sets  so 
that  more  than  one  person 
can  use  the  program. 

With  a  good  8-  or  16-bit 
sound  card,  decent  micro- 
phone, relatively  quiet  environ- 
ment, and  careful  training, 
most  of  these  programs  are  be- 
tween 80  and  95  percent  ac- 
curate. That  means  they'll  on- 
ly occasionally  confuse  one 
command  with  another  or  re- 
quire you  to  repeat  a  com- 
mand a  second  or  third  time. 

How  does  a  voice  program 


work?  Most  programs  record 
your  voice  command  and  com- 
pare it  to  a  database  of  trained 
commands  using  a  pattern- 
matching  algorithnn.  The  pro- 
gram calculates  a  score  that  rep- 
resents how  close  your  voice 
command  is  to  each  trained 
command  and  chooses  the 
trained  command  with  the  clos- 
est score.  If  the  score  is  within 
the  acceptable  limits,  the  pro- 
gram initiates  the  macro  that's 
associated  with  the  trained  com- 
mand. If  the  score  is  outside 
the  acceptable  limits,  the  pro- 
gram alerts  the  user  that  it 
didn't  understand  the  com- 
mand. The  entire  process 
takes  place  almost  instantly. 

The  first  major  sound  card  to 
ship  with  voice  software  was  Mi- 
crosoft's Windows  Sound  Sys- 
tem. Its  software,  called  Voice 
Pilot,  includes  command  tem- 
plates for  many  Windows  appli- 
cations. It  also  lets  you  add 
your  own  commands.  MediaVi- 
sion's software,  called  ExecuVo- 
ice,  is  nearly  identical  to  Micro- 
soft's Voice  Pilot  because  Drag- 
on Systems  wrote  both  pro- 
grams. Media  Vision  uses  a  new- 
er version  of  the  Dragon  en- 
gine, but  it  doesn't  include  the 
ability  to  add  additional  com- 
mands (though  you  can 
launch  any  new  application). 
Both  ExecuVoice  and  a  button- 
style  microphone  are  included 
with  the  new  Pro  Audio  Studio 
16  sound  card  and  in  an  up- 
grade kit  for  the  Pro  AudioSpec- 
trum  16.  Dragon  also  offers  two 
voice  programs  through  IBM. 
They're  called  iBM  VoiceType 
Control  for  Windows  ($129. 
with  microphone)  and  IBM  Vo- 
iceType 2  ($2, 195,  with  a  vocab- 
ulary base  of  7000  words). 

The  voice  software  that  Cre- 
ative Labs  is  bundling  with  its 
sound  cards  was  developed 
by  Voice  Processing  of  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts.  It's 
called  VoiceAssist,  it  supports 
as  many  as  1024  commands 
per  application  (256  active  at  a 
time),  and  it  adds  a  built-in  mac- 


ro program.  VoiceAssist  is  ship- 
ping with  all  Sound  Blaster  16 
sound  cards.  Creative  Labs  of- 
fers an  upgrade  path  for  cur- 
rent Sound  Blaster  16  owners, 

Covox  has  been  making 
voice  recognition  products  for 
many  years.  In  addition  to  its 
own  sound  boards  with  voice 
support,  Covox  offers  a  pro- 
gram, called  Voice  Blaster 
($119.95),  for  Sound  Blaster- 
compatible  sound  cards.  It  in- 
cludes both  DOS  and  Windows 
interfaces,  support  for  Win- 
dows OLE,  and  a  headset  with 
a  microphone  and  earphone. 
Digital  Soup  plans  to  release  a 
basic  voice  program  called  Fiov- 
er  ($129,  with  an  introductory 
price  of  $49)  that  translates 
voice  commands  into  key- 
board commands.  And  Sierra 
Semiconductor  is  providing  a 
number  of  sound  card  manufac- 
turers with  its  new  hardware- 
based  Aria  Listener  technolo- 
gy. Some  of  these  boards  are 
shipping  with  a  Star  Trek  game 
from  Interplay  that  can  be 
voice  controlled. 

Who  would  want  to  use 
voice  recognition  technology? 
It's  most  appropriate  for  hand- 
icapped individuals,  though  a 
less-than-perfect  recognition 
rate  could  cause  the  computer 
to  hang  occasionally  It's  also 
appropriate  for  special  work  sit- 
uations, where  an  employee 
must  use  his  or  her  hands  do- 
ing something  else,  as  on  a  fac- 
tory assembly  line.  For  the  rest 
of  us,  voice  programs  provide 
a  great  way  to  impress  our 
friends  and  relatives,  though  I 
suspect  few  of  us  will  use 
voice  control  every  day. 

Perhaps  in  five  years  or  so, 
when  the  technology  is  perfect- 
ed, you'll  be  able  to  walk  down 
an  office  hall  and  hear  people 
say,  "Print  page  three"  or 
"Send  memo  to  George 
Smith."  We  may  also  have  to 
contend  with  the  disgruntled  em- 
ployee who  yells,  "Reformat 
hard  drive!"  as  he's  escorted 
out  the  front  door.  D 


70        COMPUTE     SEPTEMBER  1993 


^^ili 


Relentless  Space  Combat  -       ^ 
For  Naive  Rookies  or  Hardened  Vets 

As  a  student  at  the  TCSN  Academy,  you  custom- 
design  and  fly  unique  combat,  rescue,  and 
search  and  retrieval  missions  from  the 
CyberSchool's  holodeck  console.  In  the  Wing 
^  ,,  Commander^  tradition,  the  game  features  a 
dynamic  musical  score,  improved  rendered,  bit-mapped 
graphics,  and  a  dazzling  array  of  customizing  options.  But 
Wing  Commander  Academy  isn't  another  cinematic  extrava- 
ganza —  it's  an  intense  dogfighting  marathon.  . 


♦  Custom-design  a  variely  of  missions  that  match  your  skill  level  as  you  pla 
fighters,  capital  ships,  data  pods  and  ejected  pilots  -  up  to  10  in  each  of  the 
four  action  spheres. 

♦  Save  up  to  24  games  to  disk  and  trade  with  your  friends  or  upload  them  to 
bulletin  boards  to  challenge  others. 

♦  Request  random  missions  where  each  action  sphere  yields  an  unknown  num- 
ber of  enemy  ships  with  pilots  of  varying  skill  levels. 

♦  Climb  into  the  cockpits  of  the  new  Confederation  Wraith  or  Kilrathi  frathek 
fighters  for  a  new  combat  experience. 

♦  Select  a  cybernet  wingman  -  from  a  frightened  cadet  to  a  hotshot  veteran. 

♦  Fly  from  the  cockpit  view  or  try  the  chase-plane  view  for  a  new  perspective 
on  the  dogfighting  action. 

♦  Sharpen  your  combat  skills  as  you  compete  for  high-point  honors. 

♦  Engage  the  "Wave"  -  a  dogfighting  marathon  with  1 5  progressively  difficult 
levels  of  attacking  ships  -  including  three  flights  of  fighters  in  each  level. 

♦  Build  missions  so  tough  that  even  our  professional  Wing  Commander  pilots 
can't  survive.  :^^M^ 


A  Stand  Alone  Gome  —  No  previous  Wing  Commander  experience  necessary. 


■  w  n  E  £3  □  d 


mm 


Actual  screens  may  vary. 


'^BRIGIN 


An  Electronic  Arts'  Compony 


For  MS-DOS  :{a6SX,  ^m,  4B6  or  100".;.  compatible  systems. 


©Cofjyrighl  TJ^S  ORIGIN  Syslems.,  Inc.  Origin,  Wt  trt-ate 


Sound  Support:  Ad  Lib,  Sound  Blaster,  Ruliind  lAPC-1  or  100%  compatible  sound  card         worlds  and  VViiiH  Commander  are  registered  trademarks  o( 
required  lor  music.  Jjli  |||fe    ORICilN  Systems,  Inc.  Academy  is  a  trademark  of  ORIGIN 

Requires:  25f.-cu!or  VGA,  2  megs  RAM,  7  megs  hard  drive  space  free,  joyslick.    "  "    Syslems,  lix.  Electronic  Arts  is  a  registered  trademark  of 

Electronic  Arls.  al 


ARTWORKS 


Robert  Bixby 


WordPerfect  6.0 

for  DOS  is  Ihe  flrsl 

WordPerfect 

lliat's  as  friendly 

to  first-lime 

users  as  H  is  to 

power  users. 


FORCE  MAJEURE 

First,  it  was  DOS  6;  then,  Win- 
dows NT.  Rarely  have  so 
many  exciting  major  programs 
been  released  in  new  versions 
at  once.  Summer  seems  to  be 
the  season  for  productivity  soft- 
ware, probably  because  long 
magazine  lead  times  make  it 
important  that  editors  become 
familiar  with  the  programs  in 
time  for  the  end-of-year 
awards  issues.  But  perhaps 
I'm  just  being  cynical.  Maybe 
it's  just  a  coincidence  that 
spring,  traditionally  the  mating 
season,  has  become  the  beta 


WordPerfect 


72 


season  and  that  everyone 
seems  to  be  pushing  software 
out  the  door  by  the  end  of 
June. 

In  this  spirit,  WordPerfect 
has  brought  out  the  first 
WordPerfect  word  processor  I 
can  unhesitatingly  recom- 
mend to  a  beginner. 

WordPerfect  6.0  for  DOS  is 
a  work  of  art.  It  has  all  the  pow- 
er of  earlier  versions  and  a 
friendly  almost-standard  inter- 
face that  is  not  a  nightmare  to 
learn.  Throw  away  your  cheat 
sheets  and  function  key  sten- 
cils. All  you  need  to  operate 
WordPerfect  6.0  is  a  mouse 
and  a  passing  understanding 
of  the  functioning  of  a  word 
processor. 

Want  to  send  a  WordPer- 
fect document  as  a  fax?  No 
problem.  WordPerfect  has  bun- 
dled a  fax  module  to  make 

COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


(hat  simple.  Want  to  spell- 
check,  style-check,  or  look 
something  up  in  the  thesau- 
rus? You're  two  mouse  clicks 
away  from  any  tool.  And  the 
macro  language  (finally)  is  sim- 
plicity itself.  Forget  all  those  til- 
des (no  one  couid  ever  figure 
out  how  many  to  use  or  where 
they  should  go).  WordPerfect 
6.0  has  a  macro  language 
very  similar  to  that  of  WordPer- 
fect 5.1  for  Windows— a  mac- 
ro language  that  looks  like  a 
language  rather  than  a 
keypress  script. 

Is  there  room  in  the  market 
for  an  innovative,  easy-to-use 
DOS  word  processor?  Don't 
ask  Borland.  Don't  ask  Word- 
Star International.  But  neither 
of  these  companies  is  WordPer- 
fect, which  seems  to  have  a 
lock  on  DOS  word  processing. 
If  anyone  can  pull  it  off, 
WordPerfect  can.  It  has  the 
clout,  and  now  it  has  a  prod- 
uct that  will  appeal  to  the 
whole  DOS  market  (and  with 
its  new,  optional  graphical  in- 
terface, some  of  the  Windows 
market  as  well). 

Speaking  of  new  releases, 
WordPerfect's  release  was  ac- 
companied by  fvlicrosoft's  re- 
lease of  Word  6.0  for  DOS.  Un- 
fortunately, I  haven't  had  the 
opportunity  to  see  this  product 
yet.  I  hope  to  obtain  a  review 
copy  soon. 

Obviously,  Corel  is  intent  on 
pulling  light  years  ahead  of  its 
competition.  It  couldn't  resist 
the  temptation  to  amaze  us 
again  with  a  new  Co- 
relDRAW!. 

CorelDRAW!  4.0  doesn't  rep- 
resent a  massive  overhaul  of 
last  year's  3,0  version,  but 
throughout  the  program  you 
can  find  important  improve- 
ments over  last  year's  COfvl- 
PUTE  Choice  award  winner. 

A  more  intuitive  organiza- 
tion of  commands,  multiple 
pages,  and  a  new  fill  feature 
are  among  the  most  exciting 
parts  of  CorelDRAW!  itself. 
Each  of  its  companion  pro- 


grams has  also  gone  through 
an  evolutionary  change — add- 
ing and  reorganizing  in  a  gen- 
eral housekeeping  effort. 

One  completely  new  fea- 
ture in  the  package  is  Corei- 
MOVE!,  an  Addlmpact-like  an- 
imation product  that  makes  cre- 
ating animated  panels  for  your 
CorelSHOW!  presentations 
much  simpler. 

CorelDRAW!  added  layers 
to  its  3.0  release.  For  the  4,0 
release  it  also  added  pages, 
which  allow  you  to  create  a 
publication  up  to  999  pages 
long.  This  makes  CorelDRAW! 
the  most  graphically  intensive 
desktop  publishing  package 
ever.  And  it's  clear  from  the 
way  Corel  implemented  pag- 
es that  this  was  its  Intention. 
The  Page  Setup  dialog  box  al- 
lows you  to  select  from  sever- 
al common  desktop  publish- 
ing options,  including  a  sad- 
dle-stitched or  bound  book. 
Since  CorelDRAW!  already 
boasted  a  spelling  checker 
and  thesaurus,  it  might  be  all 
the  word  processor  many  peo- 
ple need.  (Thank  you,  Corel,  for 
quoting  me  in  your  annual  re- 
port. The  name  is  Robert,  not 
Bill,  but  I'll  answer  to  either.) 

Now  that  the  last  rose  has 
faded  and  we've  sweltered 
our  way  through  August,  I'm 
left  with  one  nagging  ques- 
tion: Where  was  Ami  Pro?  It 
hardly  seemed  like  summer 
without  a  new  word  processor 
from  Lotus. 

Have  a  DTP  tip  you'd  like  to 
share?  Let  me  know  about  it 
by  calling  (900)  884-8681,  ex- 
tension 7010203  (sponsored 
by  Pure  Entertainment,  P.O. 
Box  186,  Hollywood,  California 
90078).  The  call  will  cost  95 
cents  per  minute,  you  must  be 
18  or  older,  and  you  must  use 
a  touch-tone  phone.  Or  write 
to  "Art  Works"  in  care  of  this 
magazine.  And  if  you  don't 
have  a  tip,  please  let  me  know 
what  you're  publishing,  what 
software  you're  using,  and 
how  "Art  Works"  can  help.     D 


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If  card  (s  missing^  write  1o; 

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As  a  member  of 

The  Computer  Book  Club.  . . 

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If  you  want  tiie  Main  Selection  do  nothing  and  it  w/i!l  be 
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All  tcxjfcs  aia  sjllcWBi  uniKS  olhenvise  rolefl  PuWiShsis'  priess  shewn  tf  you  setaa  a  book  *al 
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DISCOVERY  CHOICE 


Research  has  never  been  as  easy  or  entertaining  as  it 
is  with  this  comprehensive  multimedia 
encyclopedia,  complete  with  animation  and  sound. 

Stephen  Levy 


ENCARTA 


It's  Sunday  evening,  about 
9:00,  and  your  12-year-old 
daughter  is  reading  quietly  in 
the  family  room.  Suddenly,  a 
horrified  look  overtakes  her 
face.  "Tine  report!"  she  cries 
out.  "It's  due  tomorrow!"  ■ 

If  you  have  a  good  refer- 
ence library  In  your  home, 
then  you  have  no  problem. 
Most  of  us,  though,  don't 
have  the  space  for  a  compre- 
hensive library,  But  we  do 
have  room  for  Encarta,  the 
much-anticipated  multimedia 
encyclopedia  from  fvlicrosoft. 
And  with  access  to  its  more 
than  25,000  articles,  7000  pho- 
tographs, seven  hours  of 
sound,  800  maps,  and  nearly 
100  animated  sequences, 
your  daughter  just  might  get 
that  report  written.  i 

Developed  from  the 
ground  up  as  a  multimedia 
computer  encyclopedia,  Encar- 
ta is  much  more  than  Funk 
and  Wagnalls  New  Encyclope- 
dia, on  which  it  is  based.  In- 
deed, Microsoft  has  incorporat- 
ed an  abundance  of  copyright- 
ed material  that  it  licensed 
from  numerous  sources  to  cre- 
ate both  an  excellent  re- 
search tool  and  entertaining 
software. 

Encarta  has  three  main 
parts:  an  encyclopedia,  an  at- 
las, and  a  time  line.  The  latter 
two  draw  on  the  information  in 
the  encyclopedia.  Microsoft 
has  also  included  the  game 
MindMaze. 

And  it's  an  intuitive,  easy-to- 
use  Windows  application  to 
boot.  Want  to  learn  about  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  ability  as  a  mili- 
tary leader?  Easy.  Simply 
click  on  the  Contents  button 
and  type  lincoln;  then  click  on 
Lincoln,  Abraham.  In  a  few 
seconds  the  appropriate  arti- 
cle appears  onscreen.  This 

74        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


task  is  analogous  to  looking 
up  an  article  in  a  standard  en- 
cyclopedia, complete  with  pic- 
tures and  headlines  that  help 
you  find  the  exact  information 
you  want.  This  similarity  en- 
sures that  most  users  will 
have  little  trouble  learning  to 
use  Encarta, 

Encarta's  basic  textual  infor- 
mation is  just  what  you  would 
expect  from  a  standard  desk- 
top encyclopedia:  a  survey  of 
thousands  of  topics  with  vary- 
ing levels  of  detail.  It's  a 
great  place  to  quickly  learn 
about  a  topic  or  to  begin  a  re- 
search paper, 

In  addition  to  its  simple  Con- 
tents-button method  of  locat- 
ing information,  Encarta  has  a 
fast  and  efficient  Find  com- 
mand. You  simply  type  in  the 
topic,  concept,  or  words  you 
want  to  explore,  and  Encarta 
gives  you  a  list  of  articles  that 
include  the  words  you've 
typed.  The  program  also  al- 
lows more  precise  search  re- 
quests: birds  and  food,  birds 
or  food,  and  similar  options. 

Even  as  a  standard  encyclo- 
pedia, Encarta  offers  more 


than  its  printed  bound  cous- 
ins. And  it's  much  more  than 
a  standard  encyclopedia  with 
great  search  capabilities;  it's 
a  multimedia  reference  guide 
with  animation,  pictures, 
sound,  and  more. 

The  program's  information 
database  is  organized  concep- 
tually All  information  falls  into 
nine  general  categories,  from 
Physical  Science  and  Technol- 
ogy to  Sports,  Games,  Hob- 
bies, and  Pets.  Each  of  these 
broad  conceptual  groups  is  di- 
vided into  as  many  as  15  spe- 
cific areas,  which  again  are 
broken  down  into  scores  of 
topics, 

Once  you've  found  a  topic 
that  interests  you,  Encarta 
takes  you  to  the  appropriate  ar- 
ticle. When  reviewing  the  arlh 
cle,  you'll  immediately  notice 
the  small  icons  that  appear 
within  it.  These  icons  indicate 
a  related  picture  (which 
shows  on  the  screen  automat- 
ically as  you  scroll  through 
the  article),  sound,  animation, 
map,  chart,  or  table.  Each  of 
these  is  well  done,  but  the 


ones  I  find  most  impressive 
are  the  animation  and  sound. 
TInis  is  whiere  it  is  obvious 
that  Encarta  was  designed  for 
tfie  situation  instead  of  being 
simply  an  electronic  version 
of  ttie  printed  page, 

Animation  is  used  as  a  tool 
to  hielp  comprefiension;  it 
takes  the  printed  word  one 
step  further  to  aid  in  under- 
standing. With  nearly  100  ani- 
mated sequences  in  the  pro- 
gram, it  was  impossible  for 
me  to  watch  each  one.  By 
way  of  illustration,  I'll  describe 
just  one  sequence.  It  shows, 
through  animated  pictures,  di- 
agrams, and  audio,  exactly 
how  a  television  camera  con- 
verts an  image  from  the  real- 
life  object  into  the  image  you 
see  broadcast  on  your 
screen.  This  is  something 
that  could  not  possibly  be  ac- 
complished as  clearly  and  ef- 
ficiently with  printed  words 
and  stagnant  pictures, 

Sound,  including  music,  is 
also  important  to  the  Encarta 
experience.  For  instance,  se- 
lecting Language  Sample  un- 
der the  Gallery  Special  List 
group  lets  you  hear  a  variety 
of  expressions  and  words  in 
dozens  of  different  languag- 
es. Or  you  can  hear  an  assort- 
ment of  folk  music  from 
around  the  world.  These  are 
just  two  of  many  examples  of 
how  Encarta  can  entertain 
and  provide  a  true  multimedia 
experience  without  losing 
sight  of  its  goal  as  a  vast  store- 
house of  information. 

The  "hot  links"  feature  is  an- 
other that  shows  Encarta's 
strengths.  As  you  read  an  ar- 
ticle, you'll  notice  immediate- 
ly that  some  words  are  print- 
ed in  another  color  and  are 
underlined.  These  words  are 
hot  links  to  other  articles. 
Click  on  one,  and  in  a  few  sec- 
onds you'll  be  transferred  to 


the  related  article.  You  can 
continue  to  do  this  and  ex- 
plore articles  in  any  direction 
and  depth  you  want.  And 
when  you  want  to  go  back  to 
where  you've  been,  simply  se- 
lect Topic  Tracker  from  the 
menu;  you'll  see  a  list  of  the 
topics  for  your  entire  session. 
In  this  list,  you  just  click  on 
the  topic  you  want  to  return 
to,  and  there  you'll  be. 

To  assist  the  student  who 
is  using  Encarta  as  a  re- 
search tool,  Microsoft  has  in- 
cluded several  conveniences 
such  as  a  dictionary  and  the- 
saurus, as  well  as  access  to 
Write  (Windows"  word  proces- 
sor). In  addition,  it's  easy  to 
print  pictures,  entire  articles, 
or  portions  of  articles.  Pasting 
text  and  pictures  into  Write  is 
accomplished  in  the  same 
way  as  in  any  other  Windows 
application. 

Although  the  encyclopedia 
is  the  heart  of  Encarta,  the  pro- 
gram does  include  two  other 
important  parts,  an  atlas  and 
a  time  line.  Selecting  Timeline 
from  the  main  window  con- 
verts the  computer  monitor  in- 
to a  2G-foot  scrolling  historical 
time  line  from  15  million  B,C. 
to  the  present.  Using  the  ar- 
rows, you  can  scroll  through 
time  as  pictures  and  a  list  of 
historical  events  move  by, 
Click  on  any  picture  or  event, 
and  a  short  text  box  appears, 
giving  more  detail.  To  Micro- 
soft's credit,  this  time  line  is  a 
true  world  historical  time  line; 
it  doesn't  concentrate  on  just 
Western  events.  Although 
well  done  and  interesting  to  ex- 
plore, it,  like  any  other  time 
line,  is  limited  in  its  value. 

The  third  part  of  Encarta  is 
the  atlas.  Use  the  pointer  to 
move  the  globe  to  the  desired 
world  location,  or  click  on 
Place  Finder  to  locate  any  ar- 
ea of  the  world.  The  map  is 


filled  with  hot  spots  where  the 
arrow  pointer  turns  into  a  point- 
ing finger.  Click  on  any  hot- 
spot  country,  sea,  or  conti- 
nent, and  the  atlas  zooms  in 
to  give  you  a  closer  look. 
Click  on  the  name  of  a  city  or 
on  the  currently  highlighted 
country,  and  you  can  learn 
more  about  that  place. 

Although  Encarta  is  an  ex- 
cellent implementation  of  mul- 
timedia and  a  useful  educa- 
tional tool,  some  will  say  that 
the  articles  lack  the  depth 
and  content  of  other  encyclo- 
pedias. A  more  objective  con- 


IBM  PC  or 
compatible  (8038S 
compatible),  2MB 
RAM  (4MB 
recommended], 
VGA  or  SVGA,  CD- 
ROM  drive,  mouse, 
malor  sounii  card, 
speakers— $395 
($249  lor  students, 


cern  is  one  that's  common  to 
most  CD-ROM  software: 
speed.  You'll  have  to  wait  sev- 
eral seconds  before  Encarta 
retrieves  information  from  the 
CD-ROM.  The  speed,  of 
course,  depends  a  lot  on  the 
access  time  of  your  CD-ROM 
drive  and  microprocessor. 
But  on  balance,  Microsoft's  im- 
plementation of  this  multime- 
dia encyclopedia  is  well 
done  with  lots  added  to  the 
original  base  encyclopedia. 
Encarta  is  well  worth  its 
price,  and  who  knows?  It 
might  come  in  handy  late  one 
Sunday  evening.  D 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  392 


educators,  anii 
administrators), 
future  updates 
slated  to  be  under 
$100  eacli 

MICROSOFT 
1  Microsoft  Way 
Redmond,  WA 

98052 

(800)  426-9400 


SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        75 


GAME  INSIDER 


Shay  Addams 


POWER 
SIMULATIONS 


The  reunion  of  the 

Zork  team, 

more  adventures  and 

Sims,  Peter 

Pan,  and  Vietnam 


76        COMPUTE 


Basketball  fans — who  have 
probably  been  playing  a  lot  of 
Electronic  Arts'  fvlichael  Jor- 
dan in  Flight  lately — may  want 
to  pick  up  the  latest  sports 
Sim,  David  Robinson:  NBA  Ac- 
tion. A  center  for  the  San  An- 
tonio Spurs,  Robinson  worked 
with  Park  Place  Productions 
(which  did  a  similar  Sega 
game)  to  create  what  is  appar- 
ently the  only  basketball  simu- 
lation with  all  27  NBA  teams. 

The  designers  digitized  vid- 
eotapes of  Robinson  in  action 
on  the  court,  enhancing  the 
game  with  a  full  complement 
of  the  moves  that  made  him  fa- 
mous. Other  features  of  the 
game,  being  marketed  by 
Spectrum  HoloByte,  include 
league  and  season  options 
and  instant  replay 

Mystery  fans  will  prefer  the 
latest  Sierra  adventure,  which 
stars  an  all-new  character — 
Gabriel  Knight.  Instead  of  us- 
ing a  traditional  horror  theme. 
Sierra  aimed  at  creating 
suspense  in  the  style  of  Hitch- 
cock in  this  animated  adven- 
ture. Knight  is  from  a  family  of 
shadow  hunters  whose  desti- 
ny is  to  fight  the  forces  of  evil — 
and  what  better  place  for  hunt- 
ing shadows  than  the  French 
Quarter  in  contemporary  New 
Orleans?  The  game  was  de- 
signed by  Jane  Jensen,  who 
worked  with  Roberta  Williams 
on  King's  Quest  VI. 

Electronic  Arts  has  some  in- 
congruous titles  due  by  Sep- 
tember; Seal  Team  and  Peter 
Pan.  The  former  is  a  Vietnam- 
era  war  game  that,  in  addition 
to  the  conventional  aeriat- 
view  maps  of  the  battle  area 
and  units,  incorporates  the 
kind  of  3-D  graphics  usually 
seen  in  flight  simulators.  So, 
you'll  encounter  enemy  sol- 
diers face  to  face  in  a  rice  pad- 
dy, rather  than  just  view  them 
as  icons  on  a  map — a  fresh  per- 
SEPTEWBER  1993 


spective  on  war  gaming  that 
should  make  Seal  Team  attrac- 
tive to  a  wider  audience  than 
just  hard-core  strategy 
gamers. 

Peter  Pan  is  the  latest  in  the 
EA  Kids  line  of  children's 
games.  You  can  alter  the  sto- 
ry by  using  tools,  such  as  a 
paintbrush  or  spray  can,  to 
save  Peter  from  a  bear  by  turn- 
ing it  into  a  bunny 

Running  a  bit  behind  sched- 
ule, fvlaxis  says  its  SimFarm, 
originally  set  for  midsummer, 
should  be  on  the  shelves  by 
the  time  you  read  this.  Sam  & 
Max  Hit  the  Road  is  on  the 
way  from  LucasArts,  Even 
though  it  is  based  on  a  comic 
book  about  a  team  of 
freelance  police  detectives 
who  happen  to  be  a  dog  and 
a  bunny,  this  graphic  adven- 
ture will  appeal  more  to  adults 
than  kids. 

Ecological  overtones  sur- 
face in  Sir-Tech's  upcoming 
Jagged  Alliance.  Your  goal  in 
this  strategic  role-manage- 
ment game  is  to  protect  a  spe- 
cies of  tree  from  destruction 
by  the  villains.  You  direct  up  to 
eight  characters  on  a  remote  is- 
land in  the  south  Atlantic.  Ac- 
tivities range  fronn  managing 
the  harvest  of  the  trees'  valua- 
ble serum  (used  to  fight  a  chil- 
dren's disease)  to  hiring  mer- 
cenaries whom  you  control  in 
combat.  Look  for  it  by  October. 

A  couple  of  side  trips  this 
month  led  me  to  the  Comput- 
er Game  Developers  Confer- 
ence (CGDC)  in  Silicon  Valley 
and  to  Westwood  Studios  in 
Las  Vegas.  The  hottest  round 
table  at  CGDC  was  the  one  on 
vehicle  simulations.  Novalog- 
ic's  dramatic  ride  to  the  top 
with  Comanche:  Maximum 
Overkill  has  convinced  many 
fledgling  designers  that  simu- 
lations are  the  fast  track  to  over- 
night success. 

One  hot  topic  at  the  show 
was  the  recent  acquisition  of 
ICOM  Simulations  (which  did 
Deja  Vu  and  Uninvited)  by 


Viacom  International.  A  few 
days  after  the  show,  another 
major  deal  emerged  when  Si- 
erra announced  that  its  TSN 
gaming  network  and  commu- 
nications giant  AT&T  would 
work  together  in  TSN-related 
projects.  AT&T  would  pick  up 
some  of  TSN's  stock,  while  pro- 
viding capital  as  well  as  other 
resources. 

The  most  interesting  thing 
about  the  show,  however,  was 
a  spontaneous  reunion  of  the 
original  Infocom  staff,  includ- 
ing ZorkfvSaster  fvlarc  Blank, 
who  vanished  from  the  adven- 
ture game  scene  after  Activi- 
sion  bought  Infocom  several 
years  ago.  Brian  Moriarty,  who 
was  also  with  Infocom  in  the 
golden  age  of  adventure 
games,  revealed  that  he's  do- 
ing his  first  adventure  since 
his  highly  acclaimed  Loom  ap- 
peared three  years  ago.  The 
Dig,  set  for  this  fall,  involves  a 
space  shuttle  crew  swept 
away  to  a  distant  world.  (Lu- 
casArts says  a  "very  famous 
film  director/producer"  is  col- 
laborating with  fvloriarty  on 
The  Dig.) 

In  Vegas,  Westwood  Studi- 
os was  showing  Lands  of  Lore 
and  Legend  of  Kyrandia  II, 
both  set  for  the  Christmas  sea- 
son. Lands  of  Lore  is  the  first 
role-playing  game  Westwood 
has  done  under  its  own  iabel 
(Westwood  also  designed  ma- 
jor hits  such  as  SSI's  Eye  of 
the  Beholder).  The  game  uses 
inventive  storytelling  sequenc- 
es to  round  out  the  panoply  of 
role-playing  activities.  Kyran- 
dia II  is  a  dazzling  sequel  star- 
ring Zanthia,  a  femaie  charac- 
ter who  played  a  role  in  the 
first  game.  It  should  be  out  by 
November. 

Despite  previous  announce- 
ments of  mission  disks  and  se- 
quels, Westwood  has  elected 
not  to  do  either  for  Dune  2.  In- 
stead, it  is  developing  an  all- 
new  tactical  game  called  Com- 
mand and  Conquer  that  will 
be  out  early  next  year.         D 


nterprismg. 


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H«Pl4™ 

t7922f4l(h  Avenue,  Inint,  U  92714 

[711)553-3530 


wo  years  of  graphical  3D  renderings  have  resulted  in 
a  record  setting  90  minutes  of  full  motion  ghostly  video. 


F//YD  OUT  WHAT  HAPPENED  TO  THE  OTHER  SIX.., 


'This  is  the  new  standard  in  multimedia  entertainment " 
Bill  Gates,  Founder  of  Microsoft® 


I^One  Gigabyte  of  groundbreaking  full  frame 
animation  for  the  CD-ROM  and  complex 
graphic  processing  techniques  including 
rendering  and  morphs! 


track  by  The  Fat  Man  of  Wing 
•mmander™  fame  as  well  as  extensive  use 
>of  digitized  dialogue  recorded  by  live  actors. 


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1^  Based  on  an  original  story  and  screenplay 
written  by  horror  author  Matthew  Costello. 


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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  267 


ENTERTAINMENT  CHOICE 


The  only  thing  better  than  playing  this  incredibly 

realistic  football  simulation  is 

putting  on  a  uniform  and  playing  the  real  thing. 

Scott  A.  May 


FRONT  PAGE 
SPORTS:  FOOTBALL 

In  a  blitz  of  cutting-edge  lecti- 
nology,  Dynamix's  Front 
Page  Sports:  Football  blind- 
sides  the  competition  and 
knocks  them  out  cold.  We're 
not  talking  about  a  playful 
beating  here,  but  a  crushing 
blow — one  so  powerful  that  it 
renders  almost  every  gridiron 
game  before  it  instantly  obso- 
lete, Sporting  a  game  plan 
that  bursts  with  realistic  ac- 
tion, in-depth  strategy,  and  sta- 
tistical detail,  this  is  a  pigskin 
lover's  dream  come  true. 

It's  hard  to  believe  that 
something  this  good  repre- 
sents Dynamix's  first  foray  in- 
to sports  simulation.  After  on- 
ly a  cursory  tour  of  the  game, 
you'll  notice  the  same  commit- 
ment to  excellence  that's 
marked  such  previous  bestsell- 
ers as  Red  Baron  and  Aces 
of  the  Pacific.  The  design 
turned  out  so  well  that  Dy- 
namix  has  slated  an  entire  se- 
ries of  Front  Page  Sports  titles. 

The  game  divides  itself  in- 
to three  separate,  but  directly 
connected,  sections:  on-field 
action,  coaching  playbook, 
and  team  management.  You 
can  compete  against  the  com- 
puter or  head  to  head  against 
another  player,  You  can 
choose  exhibition,  single  sea- 
son, or  career  league  play. 
The  game  boasts  full  47-man 
teams,  complete  with  injured 
reserve,  free  agent  pools,  draft- 
ing, training  camp,  and  trad- 
ing. Seasons  can  be  de- 
signed in  one  of  five  league 
sizes  divided  into  one  or  two 
conferences  with  up  to  three 
divisions  each.  Seasons  culmi- 
nate with  divisional  champion- 
ships, postseason  playoffs, 
and  a  final  Super  Bowl-style 
showdown. 


Almost  every  detail  of  a 
team's  franchise  can  be  cus- 
tomized by  the  owner:  team 
name,  nickname,  head 
coach,  jersey  colors,  stadium 
type  (domed  or  outdoor),  and 
nearest  city.  The  last  two  op- 
tions also  have  a  direct  influ- 
ence on  weather  conditions, 
temperature,  humidity,  and 
precipitation,  which  in  turn  af- 
fect field  conditions  and  play- 
er performance. 

Statistical  jocks  will  love  the 
game's  exhaustive  number 
crunching,  fvlore  than  300 
Stat  categories  are  automatical- 
ly compiled,  updated,  and  dis- 
played onscreen  or  printed. 
Detailed  box  scores  are  avail- 
able during  and  after  games, 
as  well  as  match-ups  from  the 
previous  week.  League  lead- 
er stats  compare  all  teams 
and  players  in  the  league  in  a 
wide  range  of  categories. 

Players  are  rated  from  0  to 
99  in  eight  performance  clas- 
sifications. Team  and  player 
editors  are  available  as  share- 
ware on  many  electronic  infor- 
mation services,  and  you  can 
find  unofficial,  user-created 
tiles  for  the  1992  NFL  season. 


In  career  leagues,  the  pro- 
gram maintains  a  sharp  distinc- 
tion between  potential  and  ac- 
tual ratings,  affected  by  such 
factors  as  training,  injuries, 
and  aging.  This  attention  to 
subtle  cause  and  effect  not  on- 
ly increases  the  realism  but 
also  deepens  the  game's  con- 
siderable role-playing  as- 
pects. As  general  manager, 
you  attempt  to  handpick  the 
best  players.  As  coach, 
you're  responsible  for  working 
with  each  player  to  bnng  out 
everyone's  best  abilities.  On 
the  field,  your  players  are  com- 
pelled to  excel  both  individu- 
ally and  as  a  team.  No  other 
computer  football  simulation 
offers  such  well-rounded,  per- 
sonal involvement  with  every 
phase  of  the  game. 

Strategic-minded  players 
will  revel  in  the  game's  extraor- 
dinary playbook  editor — 
which  is  without  doubt  the 
most  comprehensive  and  intu- 
itive yet  seen.  More  than  200 
stock  plays  are  included,  divid- 
ed among  standard  offensive 
and  defensive  formations.  Util- 
izing a  CAD-style  point-and- 
click  drawing  interface,  you 


80        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


can  easily  alter  any  of  these 
predesigned  piays  or  create 
your  own.  Movement  patlis 
are  represented  by  lines,  end- 
ing with  or  segmented  by  log- 
ic boxes.  Assembled  with  sim- 
ple menu-driven  text  com- 
mands, logic  boxes  are  instruc- 
tional scripts  that  tell  each 
player  how  to  react  as  a  play 
unfolds.  Instructions  may  be 
absolute,  causing  an  action 
to  be  performed  regardless  of 
circumstances,  or  conditional, 
allowing  players  to  react  logi- 
cally to  each  unique  situation. 

Logic  boxes  offer  incredi- 
ble control  over  every  nuance 
of  play.  Defensive  players 
can  be  "taught"  to  adopt  an 
aggressive,  conservative,  or 
balanced  stance.  Offensive 
and  defensive  plays  can  be 
practiced  with  or  without  oppo- 
sition. Try  experimental  pass 
routes  against  different  forma- 
tions, or  select  a  killer  offen- 
sive attack  and  mold  a  de- 
fense to  stop  it.  Much  of  the 
game's  appeal  comes  from 
testing,  dissecting,  and  fine- 
tuning  your  plays  into  gridiron 
ballets  of  power  and  beauty. 

More  than  8000  frames  of 
animation  were  used  to  cre- 
ate the  astonishingly  lifelike 
piayer  movement,  digitized 
from  human  models  with  a 
technique  called  rotoscoping. 
Rendered  from  a  256-color 
VGA  palette,  the  graphics  are 
bright  and  expressive,  aug- 
mented with  bone-crushing 
sound  effects  and  crisp  digit- 
ized speech. 

Although  Dynamix  recom- 
mends an  80386SX  as  its  min- 
imum system  requirement,  the 
game  performs  better  on  a  33- 
MHz  80386.  and  it  positively 
smokes  on  an  80486.  On  slow- 
er machines,  the  players 
move  as  if  they're  running  un- 
derwater. Luckily,  most  sound 
and  graphic  effects  can  be 


selectively  turned  off,  speed- 
ing up  the  action  considerably 
The  game  also  makes  excel- 
lent use  of  expanded  memory 
for  reduced  disk  access. 

The  on-field  action  is  fantas- 
tic. Three  skill  ievels  offer  you 
full  or  partial  control  of  the  ac- 
tion and  coaching  duties.  The 
game  supports  keyboard, 
mouse,  and  dual  joysticks. 
The  joysticks  option  is  definite- 
ly preferred.  Arcade  controls 
are  fast  and  reliable.  Your 
view  of  the  action  can  be 
changed  either  before  or  dur- 
ing play  to  one  of  nine  fixed 
camera  positions.  These 
views,  as  well  as  a  free-float- 
ing camera,  also  contribute  to 
the  game's  extraordinary  in- 
stant-replay system.  Using 
standard  VCR-style  controls, 
you  can  easily  view,  edit,  and 
save  pivotal  plays  as  a  high- 
light film. 

Like  all  other  great  works, 
this  game  has  its  share  of 
problems  and  shortcomings. 
Entire  playbooks  must  be 
memorized  by  their  often  cryp- 
tic eight-character  abbrevia- 
tions. Unfortunately,  there's 
no  provision  for  printing  actu- 
al play  diagrams  to  create  a  re- 
al coach's  playbook.  Missing 
play  options  include  impro- 
vised hand-offs,  laterals,  and 
shovel  passes,  but  these  re- 
quire realtime  action  that 
would  admittedly  be  difficult 
to  program.  An  option  for  short- 
er quarter  iengths  (five  or  ten 
minutes)  would  also  add  zest 
to  pure  arcade  contests. 

Another  major  inconven- 
ience occurs  when  you  simu- 
late a  series  of  weekly  league 
games.  For  realism's  sake, 
the  program  simulates  every 
game — sans  graphics — in- 
stead of  quickly  generating  re- 
sults. This  means  agonizingly 
long  periods  of  computer  inac- 
tivity On  a  25-MHz  80386.  for 


example,  the  average  comput- 
er-simulated game  takes  11 
minutes.  Multiply  this  by  the 
full  28-team  weekly  schedule, 
and  you're  looking  at  2-3 
hours  of  nonstop  number 
crunching  and  hard  drive  activ- 
ity. On  a  66-MHz  80486,  this 
figure  drops  to  about  30  min- 
utes. Regardless,  players 
should  be  given  the  option  for 
a  quick  resolve.  Adding  insult 
to  injury,  the  only  way  to  stop 
the  computer  simulation  is  to 
exit  to  DOS  or  reboot. 


IBM  PC  or 
compalible 
(803a6SX 
compalible),  640K 
RAM  (2MB 
expanded  memory 
recommended), 
DOS  5  or  higher, 
256-color  VGA, 
hard  drive,  high- 
density  floppy 
drive;  joystick(s)  or 
mouse  strongly 


Despite  these  problems,  a 
big  stadium  wave  is  in  order 
for  Dynamix's  support  team, 
especially  those  folks  in- 
volved with  the  game's  out- 
standing documentation.  The 
indexed  manual  brims  with  il- 
lustrated examples,  playbook 
tutorials,  and  suggested  read- 
ing. The  folks  at  Dynamix 
also  earn  high  marks  for  their 
quick  response  to  customer- 
reported  bugs  and  suggest- 
ed improvements. 

Front  Page  Sports:  Football 
kicks  our  perception  of  com- 
puter sports  simulations  into 
another  dimension.  The  only 
thing  that  gets  better  than 
this  requires  a  uniform.       3 

circle  Reader  Service  Number  393 


recommended, 
supports  Sound 
Blaster,  Ad  LIh, 
Thunder  Board, 
PAS  Plus/16, 
Roland  MT-32,  and 
compatible  sound 
cards— $69.95 

DYNAMIX 
Distributed  by 
Sierra  On-Llne 
RD.  Box  485 
Coarsegold,  CA 
936U 
(BOG)  326-6654 


SEPTEMBER  1993     COMPUTE        81 


GAMEPLAY 


Paul  C.  Schuytema 


Can  teaching  children 

about  the  gross 

reality  of  slavery 

inspire  them 

to  worif  together 

to  create 

iiarmonious  race 

relations? 


WHAT  COST 
FREEDOM? 

MECC  has  been  at  the  fore- 
front of  educational  software 
development  tor  years,  paying 
special  attention  to  classroom- 
based  games.  Its  Oregon 
Trail  is  a  classic — and  is  still  a 
vibrant  educational  tool  after 
more  than  a  dozen  years. 

Last  fall  MECC  released 
Freedom!,  another  historical 
simulation.  In  it,  children  in 
grades  5-8  assume  the  role  of 
a  slave  attempting  to  escape 
to  freedom  through  the  Under- 
ground Railroad. 

The  game's  historical  detail 
was  provided  by  African-Amer- 
ican scholar  Kamau  Sebabu 
Kambui.  Freedom!  attempts  to 
recreate  the  experience  of  the 
antebellum  period  in  the  east- 
ern U,S, 

Players  choose  a  character 
who  has  certain  skills,  such  as 
literacy  (though  usually  the  char- 
acter is  illiterate).  Children,  as 
slaves,  have  the  option  to 
speak  with  elders  on  the  plan- 
tation to  glean  necessary  ad- 
vice such  as  "Moss  grows  on 
the  north  side  of  trees," 

Play  proceeds  as  children 
attempt  to  travel  from  safe 
house  to  safe  house,  learning 
survival  and  communication 
skills  plus  resource  manage- 
ment. One  of  the  game's  most 
exciting  aspects  is  the  way  it 
handles  illiteracy:  If  a  slave 
can't  read,  then  any  notes  or 
signs  encountered  appear  on- 
screen as  indecipherabte  sym- 
bols. Children  can  learn  to 
match  symbols  to  see  if 
they're  on  the  right  track. 

Freedom!  hit  classrooms 
last  fall.  By  the  beginning  of 
1993,  it  had  been  pulled  from 
the  market  and  all  its  field  li- 
censes had  been  revoked. 
Why?  Freedom!,  as  a  simula- 
tion, opens  an  interesting  Pan- 
dora's box  of  questions. 

A  parents'  group  in  Merrill- 
viile,  Indiana,  objected  to  sev- 


eral prominent  features  of  the 
game.  After  meeting  with  the 
group,  Kambui,  and  an  NAACP 
representative,  MECC  decided 
that  the  parents'  objections 
were  of  sufficient  magnitude  to 
justify  pulling  it  from  the  market. 

Paulette  Davis,  spokesper- 
son for  the  parents'  group, 
told  me  that  Freedom!,  intro- 
duced into  the  school's  open 
computer  lab,  was  offered  as 
something  students  could  ex- 
plore with  their  free  time.  No 
curriculum  was  attached. 

Freedom!  attempts  to  recre- 
ate the  attitudes,  prejudices, 
and  speaking  patterns  of  the 
times.  Davis  felt  that  the 
slaves'  uneducated,  dialect- 
heavy  speaking  manner  pre- 
sented the  wrong  impression 
of  African-Americans  to  a  pre- 
dominately white  student 
body.  She  felt  that  the 
school's  few  African-American 
students  were  being  alienated 
and  misrepresented. 

Davis  also  felt  that  since  the 
game's  outcome  is  either  win- 
ning freedom  or  losing  by  be- 
ing killed  or  recaptured,  and 
since  it's  a  very  challenging 
simulation,  children  with  strong 
computer  skills  had  a  serious  ad- 
vantage. Consequently,  other 
students  were  not  receiving 
healthy  feedback  or  positive 
reinforcement. 

Perhaps  her  strongest  objec- 
tion— that  African-American  his- 
tory doesn't  begin  with  slav- 
ery, but  in  the  kingdoms  of 
Africa — is  not  so  much  a  fault 
of  the  game  as  it  is  a  fault  of 
historical  curricula  in  general. 
For  Davis's  group.  Freedom! 
trivialized  and  "Nintendo- 
ized"  a  traumatic  and  difficult 
period.  Thus,  it  sent  the 
wrong  messages  to  students. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  ar- 
gument, Helen  Cartier,  librari- 
an and  computer  educator  at 
the  Hoover  Elementary 
School  in  Wisconsin,  was 
shocked  when  MECC  pulled 
her  school's  licenses  for  Free- 
dom!. She  had  it  installed  on 


over  30  computers  in  fifth-  and 
sixth-grade  classrooms. 

In  her  experience.  Free- 
dom! provided  an  exciting  ve- 
hicle that  enabled  students  to 
understand  some  of  the  chal- 
lenges that  African-Americans 
faced  when  fleeing  captivity. 
Her  students  reacted  better 
than  she  had  hoped  to  the 
game's  handling  of  illiteracy. 
She  found  them  challenged  to 
learn  new  problem-solving 
skills  and  excited  enough  to 
seek  more  information. 

For  Cartier  and  other  teach- 
ers across  the  country.  Free- 
dom! was  an  exciting  addition 
to  their  curriculum,  presenting 
the  time's  struggles,  prejudic- 
es, dialect,  and  history  in  an 
interactive  manner  that  chal- 
,  lenged  students  to  think  and 
learn,  not  just  to  memohze, 

Cartier  feels  that  the  par- 
ents in  Merrillville  had  the 
right  motivation:  to  enhance 
awareness  of  and  education 
about  the  African-American 
experience.  But  by  initiating 
the  action  that  pulled  the 
game,  they  actually  hurt  their 
larger  cause  by  depriving  stu- 
dents of  a  valuable  education- 
al tool. 

The  question  is.  While  prej- 
udice, ignorance,  and  cultural 
ethnocentrism  remain  with  us, 
how  should  we  approach 
games  and  simulations  such 
as  Freedom!,  which  portray  a 
time  when  the  attitudes  we're 
trying  to  eradicate  were  the 
norm?  Do  they  trivialize  the 
struggle  and  further  ingrain 
the  long-standing  attitudes,  or 
do  they  provide  an  exciting, 
kid-friendly  vehicle  with  which 
to  educate  and  inform? 

If  there's  one  thing  that 
both  sides  adamantly  agree  up- 
on, it's  that  a  game  such  as 
Freedom!  should  not  exist  in  a 
vacuum.  It's  up  to  parents, 
teachers,  and  school  systems 
to  ensure  that  a  solid  curricu- 
lum supports  such  a  product. 
Only  then  will  its  educational 
merit  truly  come  through.     D 


82        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


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Bi|  Carol  Ellison 


Have  you  heard  the  news  about  kids' 
games?  They're  not  just  for  kids 
anymore.  They're  bigger,  better, 
and  more  challenging  than  ever-  And 
they're  pushing  the  high  end  of  com- 
puting technology.  If  you  want  to  give 
your  children  the  best  software  that 
the  market  has  to  offer — the  programs 
with  fast-paced  action,  hi-res  anima- 
tion, and  concert-quality  sound — 
you're  looking  at  an  upgrade  akin  to 
what  it  takes  to  run  Windows  apps, 

Gone  are  the  days  of  trickle-down 
economics  in  home  computer  bud- 
gets. No  longer  can  you  simply  move 
your  PC  into  the  playroom  when  you 
trade  up  to  a  heftier  model  for  your- 
self. If  you  still  think  the  kids  will  be 
satisfied  with  any  system  you  pass 
along,  think  again. 

Ihe  Games  Platform 

"I  finally  had  to  turn  my  386  with  the 
300MB  hard  dhve  over  to  my  kids,"  a 
programmer  in  California  confided,  "I 
got  tired  of  them  pirating  my  VGA 
monitor  and  hounding  me  to  uninstall 
software  so  they  could  install  new  pro- 
grams; 12QMB  wasn't  enough.  Now, 
the  kids  have  a  better  system  than  I 
do.  Life's  just  easier  that  way." 

It's  also  more  fun.  And  unless 
you're  a  programmer,  it's  unlikely  that 
your  children's  software  will  require 
that  much  disk  space.  Still,  plan  on 
allowing  6MB-8MB  per  game  if  you 
want  to  install  programs  packed  with 
sound  and  animation. 

The  newest  and  niftiest  programs 
on  the  market  make  use  of  multimedia 
effects  that  raise  the  bar  on  hardware 
requirements.  And  we're  not  simpiy 
talking  about  the  programs  on  CD- 
ROM,  True,  Sierra  On-Line  and 
Brederbund,  two  leaders  in  children's 
software,  have  pioneered  CD- 
ROM-based  games:  Sierra  by  taking 
its  classic  Mixed-Up  Mother  Goose  to 
disk  three  years  ago  and  Br0derbund 
with  its  more  recent  series  of  interac- 
tive Living  Books.  But  these  companies 
and  others  now  are  delivering  high- 
quality  multimedia  programs  that  you 
can  run  directly  from  your  hard  disk.  If, 
that  is,  you  have  the  PC  power  for  it. 

Arnold  Waldstein,  director  of  mar- 
keting for  Creative  Labs,  which  makes 
the  popular  and  widely  supported 
Sound  Blaster  cards,  recommends  a 
PC  with  an  80386  or  higher  processor, 
at  least  2MB  of  memory,  Windows  3.1, 
and  no  less  than  a  30MB  hard  drive 
as  an  entry  point  to  the  world  of  chil- 
dren's entertainment  software. 

VGA  has  become  the  video  stan- 
dard for  the  latest  children's  games. 
And  virtually  all  new  games — certainly 
the  best  ones — require  a  sound  card 
for  full  enjoyment.  Plus,  many  chil- 

86      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER   1993 


dren's  programs  consume  hard  disk 
space  soaring  into  the  megabytes. 

Binary  Zoo's  animated  romp 
though  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
Smithsonian  Mystery  at  the  Museums, 
requires  5MB  of  disk  space  to  accom- 
modate the  games  and  scanned  art 
images  from  the  real  museum.  And  its 
Wild  Science  Arcade  (which  presents 
kids  with  wacky  exercises  to  illustrate 
concepts  like  the  force  of  gravity) 
even  requires  expanded  memory. 

Squeeze  Out  Power 

Superior  compression  techniques 
allow  developers  (ike  Knowledge 
Adventure's  Bill  Gross  to  imbue  that 
company's  latest  release,  The  Tale  of 
Peter  Rabbit  Talking  Storybook,  with 
sound,  action,  and  interactive  hyper- 


Cfe9fivifijls:FynfofEvfift|one 

Pick  a  color,  any  color.  Then,  pick 
a  background,  one  that  explodes 
with  starbursts.  Mix  it  with  thunder- 
ing applause  and  a  beat  to  rock  a 
coliseum.  Add  some  reverb,  and 
loop  the  routine  so  the  end  links  to 
the  beginning  and  it  plays  and 
plays  and  plays  and  .  .  . 

This  little  scenario  is  what  plays 
out  in  Rock  and  Bach  Studio.  The 
software  not  only  turns  kids  into  bud- 
ding MTV  producers  but  also  gives 
them  something  new  to  work  with 
every  time  they  sit  down  at  the  PC. 

Programs  like  Rock  and  Bach, 
Davidson's  Kid  Works  2,  Breder- 
bund's  Kid  Pix  and  Print  Shop 
Deluxe,  MECC's  Storybook  Weaver, 
and  the  Disney  print  kits  aren't  just 
games.  They're  tools — programs 
that  a  kid  can  come  back  to  when 
there's  a  project  to  complete. 
They're  as  versatile  as  adult  desk- 
top publishing  programs,  word 
processors,  or  draw  and  paint  soft- 
ware. In  fact.  Kid  Pix  and  Kid  Works 
2  put  in  a  little  of  each  of  these 
applications  and  throw  in  animation 
and  sound  effects  to  boot. 

These  programs  are  the  elec- 
tronic equivalent  of  finger  paints, 
crayons,  and  chemistry  sets. 
They're  limited  only  by  the  imagina- 
tion. And  two  minds  often  being  bet- 
ter than  one,  these  games  are  also 
better  suited  to  group  play  than 
ones  that  challenge  kids  individually 
to  attain  a  higher  score. 

The  beauty  of  these  programs  is 
that  they  grow  with  the  children. 
Adults  who  want  to  include  a  family 
newsletter  in  a  greeting  card  or 
produce  their  own  announcements 
will  even  enjoy  using  them. 


textlike  capabilities.  The  software 
reads  the  complete  text  of  the  story- 
book aloud  to  an  original  musical 
score,  and  children  can  explore  illus- 
trative elements  in  the  story.  Best  of 
all,  it  runs  from  your  hard  disk  and 
uses  only  3MB  of  space.  These  new 
compression  techniques  are  marvels, 
but  don't  expect  them  to  shrink  the 
size  of  software.  Developers  are  using 
these  newfound  schemes  to  pack 
more  sound  and  graphics  into  their 
already  sizable  programs. 

Superior  compression  schemes 
are  what  make  The  Sierra  Network's 
online  gaming  service  possible.  The 
Sierra  Network  lets  you  and  your  chil- 
dren pit  your  skills  at  everything  from 
poker  to  Boogers  (a  children's  game, 
as  you  can  tell  from  its  name)  against 
those  of  gamers  across  the  country. 
The  games  actually  reside  on  your 
hard  disk;  they  consume  a  whopping 
SMB.  But  because  the  games  run 
locally  on  your  system  as  part  of  the 
front-end  software  that  accesses  the 
network,  the  graphics  achieve  near- 
VGA  quality,  and  animation  runs  at  a 
reasonable  speed. 

Voicel  Orchestra! 

Strides  in  audio  technology  are  pro- 
ducing far  more  realistic  sounds, 
New,  quicker  16-bit  sound  cards, 
such  as  Creative  Labs'  $99  Sound 
Blaster  Pro  Deluxe,  are  downward 
compatible  with  software  written  for 
the  old  8-bit  cards  and  are  able  to 
take  advantage  of  new  technologies 
that  produce  more  natural  sounds. 
The  company's  new  Sound  Blaster  16, 
scheduled  to  list  for  $279  and  ship  by 
the  time  you  read  this,  will  combine 
16-bit  sound  quality,  downward  com- 
patibility, and  upward  expandability  in 
a  bundle  that  includes  a  variety  of 
games,  applications,  and  voice 
recognition  software. 

The  new  16-bit  Sound  Blaster  sup- 
ports both  FM  (synthesized)  sound 
and  sampled  sound,  which  is  record- 
ed and  digitized.  A  new  technology 
called  wavetable  synthesis  merges 
the  two  to  produce  a  wider,  more 
even  range  of  tones.  This  makes  your 
PC's  sound  capabilities  leap  to  a  new 
range  of  fidelity  that  can  produce 
everything  from  the  high  notes  of  a 
soprano's  aria  to  the  chirp  of  crickets 
on  a  hot  summer's  night,  a  Mozart 
concerto,  or  a  stentorian  monologue. 

Voice  recognition  is  the  newest 
multimedia  frontier.  Voice  recognition 
will  probably  first  make  a  significant 
appearance  in  children's  software  in 
the  form  of  verbally  entering  players' 
names  so  that  the  games  programs 
can  speak  them  back  at  appropriate 
moments.  Creative  Labs'  bundled 


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voice  recognition  software  is  called 
Voice  Assist,  from  Voice  Processing 
Corporation  (VPC).  Voice  Assist 
comes  trained  to  recognize  256 
words,  including  those  on  familiar 
Windows  menus.  Understandably,  it 
initially  will  be  most  useful  for 
Windows-based  software. 

At  this  writing,  voice  recognition  has 
not  made  an  appearance  in  children's 
games.  However,  at  the  Computer 
Game  Developers  Conference  last 
spring,  attention  focused  on  its  poten- 
tial. With  voice  recognition  and  a  bit  of 
artificial  intelligence  (Al)  built  into  the 
software,  and  with  a  sound  card,  speak- 
ers, and  a  microphone  installed,  a  com- 
puter wilt  be  able  to  interact  with  a  child 
in  more  natural  ways.  The  child  will  be 
able  to  speak  commands  instead  of 
entering  them  from  the  keyboard. 

Creative  Labs,  in  testing  Voice 
Assist,  actually  wrote  an  Al  program 
that  took  orders  for  pizza  and  assem- 
bled the  pizza,  with  the  user's  choice 
of  pepperoni,  extra  cheese,  onions,  or 
anchovies,  onscreen  as  an  order  was 
entered  verbally. 

Sound  is  important  in  entertaining 
educational  games.  Unless  you  have 
a  sound  card,  you  simply  can't  hear 
ground  control  monitoring  Carmen 
Sandiego's  moves  through  the  solar 
system  in  Where  in  Space  Is  Carmen 
Sandiego?,  Broderbund's  latest  entry 
in  its  runaway  hit  mystery  series.  And 


Neverwinter  Nights— $14.95  (soft- 
ware), $9.75/month  {5  hours) 
AMERICA  ONLINE 
8619  Westwood  Center  Dr. 
Vienna,  VA  22182 
(800)  827-6364 
(703)  448-8700 

Rock  and  Bach  Studio— $49.95 
Smithsonian  Mystery  at  the 

Museums — S49.95 
Wild  Science  Arcade— $49.95 
BINARY  ZOO 
P.O.  80x3210 
Champlain,  NY  12919 
(518)  298-2740 

Kid  Pix— $59.95 

Living  Books— $49.95  (Just  Grandma 

and  Me),  $59.95  (Arthur's  Teacher 

Trouble) 
Print  Shop  Deluxe— $79,95 
Where  in  Space  Is  Carmen 

Sandiego?— $79,95 
BR0DERBUND 
P.O.  60x6125 
Novate,  CA  94948-61 25 
(800)521-6263 


unless  your  hard  disk  can  accommo- 
date the  8MB  the  program  consumes, 
you  won't  even  be  able  to  install  it. 

And  what's  a  music  video  without 
sound  and  animated  effects?  Binary 
Zoo's  Rock  and  Bach  Studio  lets  kids 
stage  music  and  light  shows,  a  la  ani- 
mated music  videos,  right  there  on  the 
monitor.  It,  too,  requires  a  sound 
card — not  to  mention  a  large  amount 
of  disk  space  to  hold  the  sound  and 
animation  files  that  make  video  cre- 
ation possible.  If  you  let  your  children 
save  their  videos,  your  disk  needs 
start  rising  incrementally. 

TKe  Man  Be<omes  the  Child 

The  latest  games  software  from  com- 
panies like  Briaderbund,  Sierra  (and 
The  Sierra  Network),  Davidson  & 
Associates,  and  Binary'  Zoo  combine 
fun  and  challenges  with  state-of-the- 
art  technology  that  the  whole  family 
will  enjoy. 

What's  more,  these  new  technolo- 
gies are  remarkably  interactive,  allow- 
ing children  young  and  old  to  interact 
with  the  computer,  with  one  another  in 
multiplayer  games,  and  even  with  the 
masses  in  online  interactive  game 
arenas  like  The  Sierra  Network  and 
America  Online's  Neverwinter  Nights 
adventure  game. 

You'll  still  find  software  with  age  rat- 
ings on  the  box,  but  a  number  of  com- 
panies are  following  the  lead  of 


Davidson.  Last  fall  that  company 
erased  the  age  rating  on  its  Davidson's 
Kid  Works  2,  a  paint  and  publishing 
program  packed  with  animation  and 
sound  effects,  and  began  advertising 
the  package  "for  kids  of  all  ages." 

Davidson's  Kid  Works  2  is  just  one 
of  the  multimedia  products  that  popu- 
late the  top  of  the  children's  software 
charts.  It's  a  creativity  kit  that's  sold 
with  a  companion  clip  art  library,  called 
Kid  Pictures.  Kid  Pictures  can  also  be 
used  with  the  competition,  Br0der- 
bund's  runaway  paint  hit,  Kid  Pix. 
These  creative  kits  make  wackiness 
the  norm.  The  sight  gags  and  sound 
bloopers  you  can  build  into  pictures 
and  stories  are  limited  only  by  your 
imagination — oops!  We  meant  to  say 
your  to'cys' imaginations,  of  course! 

If  you  haven't  perused  the  software 
store  shelves  lately,  take  time  to  do  so. 
You'll  find  that  these  incredible  chil- 
dren's packages  are  affordable.  But  be 
forewarned:  Once  you  take  these  pro- 
grams home,  you'll  probably  have  to 
relinquish  your  computer  to  your  kids. 
That  is,  until  you  try  out  some  of  the 
programs  yourself.  Indeed,  they  aren't 
just  for  kids  anymore. 


Carol  Ellison  is  coauthor  of  the  book 
Parents,  Kids,  &  Computers  (Random 
House).  Her  column  "Of  Mice  &  Kids" 
appears  in  the  Education  Review  of  the 
Washington  Post.  □ 


Stiopper's  MM 

Davidson's  Kid  Works  2— $59.95 

The  Sierra  Network— $12.95/month 

Kid  Pictures— $29.95 

(30  hours),  S4.00/month  (LAN) 

DAVIDSON  &  ASSOCIATES 

THE  SIERRA  NETWORK 

19840  Pioneer  Ave. 

P.O.  Box  1550 

Torrance,  CA  90503 

Oakhurst,  CA  93644 

(800)  545-7677 

(800)  743-7721 

(310)793-0600 

Mtxed-Up  Mother  Goose 

The  Tale  of  Peter  Rabbit  Talking 

(CD-ROM)— $69.95 

Storybook  (CD-ROM)— $34.95 

Mixed-Up  Mother  Goose 

The  Tale  of  Peter  Rabbit  Talking 

(floppy)— $29.95 

Storybook  (floppy)— $19.95 

SIERRA  ON-LINE 

KNOWLEDGE  ADVENTURE 

P.O.  Box  485 

4502  Dyer  St. 

Coarsegold,  CA  93614 

LaCrescenta,  CA  91214 

(800)  328-6654 

(818)  542-4200 

Aladdin  Print  Kit— $19.95 

Storybook  Weaver— $49.00 

Beauty  and  the  Beast  Print  Kit— 

MECC 

$19.95 

6160  Summit  Dr.  N 

Dick  Tracy  Crimestoppers  Print  Kit— 

Minneapolis,  MN  55430 

$19.95 

(800)  685-6322 

Mickey  &  Minnie  Fun  Time  Print  Kit— 

(612)569-1500 

$19.95 

WALT  DISNEY  COMPUTER 

SOFTWARE 

500  S.  Buena  Vista  St. 

Burbank,  CA  91521 

(818)841-3326 

88      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


64/128  VIEW 


COMPUTE  says  goodbye  to 
Amiga  Resource,  but  Gazette  will 
continue — witli  your  help! 

Tom  Netsel 


There's  good  news  and 
bad  news  this  month. 
Let's  get  the  depressing 
item  out  of  the  way  and 
then  finish  on  a  couple  of  up- 
beat notes. 

The  bad  news  is  that  this 
issue  marks  the  final  edition 
of  Amiga  Resource.  As  Ga- 
zette is  available  for  64  and 
128  users,  Amiga  Resource 
was  available  to  Amiga  sub- 
scribers as  a  special  section 
in  COMPUTE.  Subscribers 
to  COMPUTE'S  multiedition 
received  both  the  Amiga 
and  Gazette  sections. 

What  began  in  1988  as  a 
sporadic  buyer's  guide  for 
Amiga  products  evolved  in- 
to a  quarterly  publication  in 
the  spring  of  1989.  Reader 
response  was  enthusiastic, 
and  Amiga  Resource  be- 
came a  bimonthly  publica- 
tion less  than  a  year  later.  In 
the  summer  of  1990,  Gener- 
al Media  bought  COMPUTE 
Publications  and  re- 
launched the  magazines  in 
their  present  format.  Amiga 
Resource  went  monthly  with 
Denny  All<in  as  editor. 

In  a  computer  market  dom- 
inated by  IBM  and  clones, 
Amiga  Resource  and  Ga- 
zette provided  coverage  for 
a  dedicated  core  of  Commo- 
dore users.  As  long  as  each 
section  had  a  sufficient  sub- 
scribers, publication  could 
continue.  Those  numbers 
are  no  longer  there  for  Ami- 
ga Resource. 

That's  the  bad  news.  The 
good  news  is  that  Gazette 
continues.  Thanks  to  your 
support,  we  still  have 
enough  subscribers  to  war- 
rant the  time,  effort,  and  ex- 
pense of  turning  out  a  40- 
page  section  devoted  to  an 
11 -year-old  computer.  How 
long  Gazette  continues  is 
up  to  you  readers.  If  you  re- 


nev</  your  subscription  and 
encourage  fellow  Commo- 
dore owners  to  subscribe, 
then  we'll  continue.  If  you 
feel  it's  time  for  Gazette  to 
call  it  quits,  let  your  subscrip- 
tion lapse. 

Naturally,  I  hope  you'll  con- 
tinue supporting  Gazette  as 
you've  done  for  the  past  ten 
years.  Commodore  users 
from  around  the  world  contin- 
ue to  produce  amazing  pro- 
grams for  the  magazine  and 
its  companion  disk.  And  af- 
ter more  than  a  decade  of 
publishing,  our  columnists 
and  writers  still  haven't  ex- 
hausted their  editorial  pos- 
sibilities. I've  got  some 
great  programs  and  articles 
that  I  want  to  share  with 
you,  and  it'd  be  a  shame  to 
waste  all  this  valuable  infor- 
mation. I  hope  I  can  count 
on  your  continuing  support. 

Here's  some  more  good 
news.  Creative  fvlicro  De- 
signs (CMD)  is  now  han- 
dling a  lot  more  Commo- 
dore software  and  hard- 
ware. It  recently  purchased 
all  of  the  products  that  RUN 
magazine  once  offered 
through  TechMedia. 

CfVID  has  confirmed  that 
it  is  taking  orders,  and  a 
new  catalog  of  products 
that  include  the  GEOS  Com- 
panion disks.  Productivity 
Pak,  modems,  and  heavy- 
duty  power  supplies  should 
be  available  by  the  time  you 
read  this. 

CfvID  is  searching  for 
more  Commodore  products 
from  other  firms  as  well.  The 
Massachusetts-based  com- 
pany wants  to  become  an 
even  greater  resource  for 
Commodore  owners  by  offer- 
ing a  wider  range  of  soft- 
ware and  hard-to-find  prod- 
ucts. Keep  up  the  good 
work,  CMD!  n 


GAZETTE 

64/128  VIEW 

COMPUTE  says  goodbye  to  Amiga  Resource. 
By  Tom  Netsel. 

G-1 

PRINTER  POTPOURRI 

Facts  about  dot-matrix  printers. 
By  Ranjan  Bose. 

G-3 

REVIEWS 

BBU  and  BBG,  1  Paint,  and  Grafix  Grab  Bag. 

G-10 

FEEDBACK 

Questions,  answers,  and  comments. 

G-1 4 

PD  PICKS                                             G-16 

1581  Directory  Assistant  and  1581  Disk  Utilities. 
By  Steve  Vander  Ark. 

MACHINE  LANGUAGE 

Load  and  run  ML  programs  from  BASIC. 
By  Jim  Butterfield. 

G-1 8 

D'lVERSIONS 

When  your  computer  speaks,  will  you  answer' 
By  Fred  D'lgnazio. 

G-20 

BEGINNER  BASIC 

How  does  data  get  inside  your  computer? 
By  Larry  Cotton. 

6-22 

GEOS 

Have  you  heard  GEOS  lately? 
By  Steve  Vander  Ark. 

G-23 

PROGRAMMER'S  PAGE 

Programming  hints  and  tips  from  readers. 
By  Randy  Thompson. 

G-24 

PROGRAMS 

DataBase  (64) 

Brick  Layer  (64) 

CD+  (64) 

Silicon  Cobbler  (64) 

Teleword  128 

The  Automatic  Proofreader  (64/128) 

MLX  (64) 

G-25 
G-28 
G-31 
G-34 
G-36 
G-37 
G'38 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-1 


YOUR  PRODUCTIVITY! 


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Here's  what's  on  it- 

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Printers  are  practically  a  requirement  for  any  well-equipped 

computer  system.  Through  the  use  of  an  interface,  a 

64  or  1 28  can  connect  to  almost  any  printer,  but  the  dot-matrix 

is  still  the  choice  of  most  Commodore  users. 


When  the  64  was  introduced  1 1  years  ago.  its  users 
were  severely  restricted  in  their  selection  of  printers. 
One  of  the  reasons  for  this  was  because  their  computer 
didn't  come  with  an  industry  standard  Centronics  paral- 
lel or  RS-232  serial  port. 

Printers  from  Commodore  were  the  only  game  in 
town  for  some  years,  and  they  were  generally  high- 
priced  and  of  poor  quality.  f\/lost  third-party  printers 
came  equipped  with  Centronics  parallel  ports  (RS-232 
ports  were  available  as  an  option),  but  they  were 
incompatible  with  Commodore  hardware.  Luckily  for  us 
users-  a  number  of  companies  produced  printer  inter- 
faces that  enabled  us  to  use  these  third-party  printers 
with  our  Commodores. 


transparent  mode.  This  means  that  the  output  from  your 
program  is  sent  unaltered  to  the  printer.  In  this  case, 
the  interface  simply  takes  the  Commodore  serial  data 
bit  by  bit  and  sends  the  information  as  eight  parallel 
data  bits.  It  also  sends  along  a  few  handshake  signals, 
which  the  printer  needs  in  order  to  communicate  with 
your  computer.  More  about  these  later. 

Then  There's  PETSCII 

Not  only  Is  the  64's  hardware  nonstandard,  but  the 
numerical  codes  that  it  uses  to  represent  characters  is 
also  nonstandard.  Practically  all  printers  use  what  is 
known  as  the  ASCII  standard,  where  a  code  value  of  65 
stands  for  an  uppercase  letter  A.  The  64,  however,  in- 


POTPOURRI 


These  days,  most  any  printer,  be  it  dot-matrix,  ink 
jet,  or  laser,  can  be  connected  to  a  Commodore 
through  one  of  these  printer  interfaces.  Although  laser 
printers  have  experienced  dramatic  price  reductions, 
most  Commodore  users  still  opt  for  dot-matrix  printers, 
which  offer  excellent  quality  at  affordable  prices. 

In  the  Mode 

Getting  back  to  the  interface,  these  devices  take  the 
nonstandard  Commodore  serial  port  signal  and  make  it 
look  like  a  Centronics-compatible  signal,  which  most 
third-party  printers  can  recognize.  Interfaces  typically 
allow  several  modes  of  operation.  One  mode  always  is 
the  downwardly  compatible  1525-emulation  mode.  This 
mode  uses  Commodore  graphic  characters  stored  in 
the  interface  ROfvl  and  blocks  all  non-Commodore 
printer  codes  from  reaching  the  printer.  This  means  that 
a  fancy  printer  is  essentially  downgraded  into  acting 
like  a  1525.  This  mode  is  useful  only  with  ancient  pro- 
grams that  don't  support  any  other  printer. 

Printer  interfaces  also  allow  you  to  use  all  the  fea- 
tures of  your  printer  through  what  is  aptly  named 


terprets  an  ASCII  value  of  65  as  a  lowercase  a. 

For  the  benefit  of  the  printer — and  your  printouts — 
the  interface  translates  the  Commodore  codes  (some- 
times called  PETSCII  or  CBMSGII)  that  flow  from  the 
computer  into  ASCII  codes.  Some  64  word  processors 
generate  ASCII  output  directly,  and  these  work  very 
well  if  you  set  the  interface  to  its  transparent  mode. 
Even  if  your  64  program  sends  true  ASCII  code,  you 
still  need  the  interface  in  order  to  supply  the  correct 
electrical  signals  for  the  printer. 

interfaces  also  allow  you  to  print  program  listings  in 
several  ways.  The  embedded  graphic  characters  and 
control  codes  that  represent  color  changes,  cursor 
movements,  or  screen-clearing  functions  that  you  see 
when  you  list  a  program  on  your  monitor  can  be  made 
to  appear  in  the  printed  listing  as  graphic  characters, 
key  combinations,  or  a  numerical  code. 

Some  interfaces  also  have  a  hex-dump  mode  in 
which  the  hexadecimal  values  of  all  the  characters  that 
are  sent  by  the  computer  are  printed.  This  comes  fn 
handy  when  you're  debugging  should  a  program  hang 
up  the  printer  by  sending  an  unwanted  control  char- 


BY  RANJAN  BOSE 


ruM. 


Vj 


j^m 


^«^ 


wm 


mM. 


acter.  Since  many  printers 
can  be  set  to  work  in  this 
mode,  you  probably  won't 
miss  it  if  your  interface  lacl<s 
a  hex  mode. 

Interfaces  also  allow  you 
to  turn  linefeeds  on  or  off  as 
needed.  This  is  another  fea- 
ture that's  present  on  many 
of  today's  printers. 

fvlost  printer  interfaces 
come  with  a  buffer.  This*  is 
memory  that  is  resident  out- 
side the  computer.  It  can  be 
as  tiny  as  128  bytes  or  as 
large  as  32K.  Rather  than 
waiting  around  for  the  print- 
er to  accept  the  printout 
information,  the  computer 
dumps  it  to  the  buffer.  The 
computer  is  free  to  work  on 
other  chores,  and  the  buffer 
hangs  onto  the  information 
until  the  printer  is  ready  to 
print  it.  The  bigger  the 
buffer,  the  sooner  it  frees  the 
computer  when  you  have  a 
large  file  to  print. 

Making  Contact 

The  printer  and  computer 
first  establish  a  common 
time  frame  (handshake)  by 
using  a  strobe  signal,  which 
is  a  volley  of  very  fast  and 
regularly  occurring  electric 
pulses.  The  computer  then 
waits  for  the  printer  to  signal 
its  availability  with  a  high 
acknowledge  signal  or  a  low 
busy  signal.  On  receiving 
the  appropriate  signal,  the 
connputer  sends  the 
information  that  is  to  be 
printed.  These  characters, 
which  are  nothing  more  than 
electrical  pulses,  get  sent  at 
a  rate  of  400-600  characters 
per  second. 

Few  printers  can  handle 
information  this  quickly. 
Since  most  are  limited  to 
printing  at  a  much  slower 
rate,  typically  40-150  char- 
acters per  second,  the  char- 
acters coming  from  the 
computer  are  stored  in 
buffers,  v^hich  may  be  in  the 
printer  or  in  the  interface. 
When  the  buffers  are  full,  the 
computer  receives  a  signal 
to  stop  sending  data.  From 
that  moment,  the  computer 
waits  until  the  printer  catch- 
es up  and  signals  that  it's 
ready  for  more  data. 

In  a  system  with  a  tiny 
buffer,  this  waiting  game 
can  occur  every  few  sec- 

G-4      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


With  a  printer  Interface,  you  can  connect  your  64  or  128  to  practical- 
ly any  printer,  such  as  these  multifont  models  from  Star  Micronics. 


ends  until  everything  has 
been  printed.  If  a  big  buffer 
is  available,  then  the  com- 
puter can  send  a  large 
amount  of  data  before  it  is 
interrupted.  After  sending 
the  last  packet  of  data,  the 
computer  becomes  avail- 
able for  further  use. 

A  Dip  into  History 

fvlodern-day  dot-matrix  print- 
ers descend  from  line  print- 
ers, dinosaurs  that  were 
used  long  ago  when  video 
monitors  were  prohibitively 
expensive.  By  firing  a  single 
column  of  six  to  eight  pins  as 
the  printhead  moved  across 
the  page,  the  line  printer  was 
able  to  reproduce  charac- 
ters and  graphic  shapes.  Its 
printing  speed  was  compa- 
rable with  present  stan- 
dards, but  the  quality  was 
terrible.  The  dots  that  made 
up  the  printout  were  visible 
from  a  mile  away. 

For  those  requiring  better 
print  quality,  the  only  re- 
course was  to  acquire  a 
heavy,  expensive,  noisy, 
and  slow  daisywheel  printer. 
The  daisywheel  has  all  but 
disappeared  with  the  advent 
of  laser  and  ink-jet  printers. 
(These  latter  printers  still 
employ  the  dot-matrix  meth- 
od of  printing,  but  they 
employ  very  tiny  dots.) 

Still  on  the  Dot 

Despite  the  poor  quality  of 
their  early  printouts,  dot- 
matrix  printers  have  re- 
mained popular.  They've 
survived  primarily  by  a  fierce 
reduction  in  price,  aided  by 
an  increase  in  features  and 
a  boost  in  print  quality.  In  an 
effort  to  keep  their  cus- 
tomers and  attract  new 
ones,  printer  companies 
have  increased  the  number 
of  pins  in  the  printhead, 
added  color,  and  offered  im- 
proved paper  handling. 

As  lasers  and  inl<  jets  con- 
tinue to  drop  In  price,  it's  quite 
possible  that  some  day  peo- 
ple will  find  it  economical  to 
have  a  laser  printer  for  letter 
quality  printouts  and  keep  a 
dot-matrix  printer  on  hand  for 
printing  multipart  forms.  Forms 
are  beyond  the  capability  of 
the  mighty  laser  printer  right 
now  because  it  doesn't  use 
impact  technology. 


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INTERNATIONAL 

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Jis  Their  One  Stop  SuppCier  .  ^Here's  'Why! 

*  Largest  Selection  of  Commodore  Software  in  tiie  U.S.A. I 

After  six  years  in  business,  nobody  in  the  Commodore  marlcet 
is  more  committed  to  your  Commodore  liian  we  are.  We  have 
well  over  225,000  pieces  of  hard  to  get  software  in  stock  to 
service  yourevery  need.  If  you've  heard  of  a  product,  odds  are 
that  we  can  locate  it  for  you.  And,  we  stock  most  major 
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+  Hardware  &  Peripherals. 

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we  can  offer  disks,  modems,  cables,  interfaces,  and  much 
more. 

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that  are  hard  to  pass  up. 

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Our  contacts  at  other  mail  or- 
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''"'^••^.. 


"-tfQ 


Cfttck^Out  These  'E?campfes... 

GAMB 

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Trump  Castle  Casino $9.97 

Bureaucracy  128 $1297 

Defender  of  the  Crown $9.97 

Beyond  Zork  128 $1297 

4  X  4  Off  Road  Racing       $9.97 

Sega  Arcade  Smash  Hits $14.97 

Hardball/ Tony  LaRussa $1297 

Jeopardy  l-2-]r.  Bundle $9.97 

EDUCATOMAL 

ThinkingCap $17.97 

StickybearMath $1297 

Carmen  U.S.A $26.97 

Typing  Tutor  3 $1297 

Word  Attack $9.97 

Reader  Rabbit $1297 

Sky  Travel $19.97 

Perfect  Score  SAT $9.97 

Word  Spinner $1297 

PRODUcnvriY 

Super  1750  Clone $99.95 

Newsioom $14.97 

Certificate  Maker $14.97 

Cadpak64 $14.97 

Mach  128  Cart $2497 

Paperclip  III  64/128 $29.97 

PrintmasterPlus $19.97 

Superbase  64  or  128 $2497 

Video  Title  Shop $19.97 

Bumper  Sticker  Maker $1297 

Outrageous  Pages $29.97 

Bob's  Term  Pro  64 $24.97 


li^: 


.^r'^rf 


^Sl  PFR  1750 

TONE 


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The  print  quality  on 
today's  dot-matrix  printers  is 
far  from  bad.  Even  9-pin 
printers  can  produce  near 
letter  quality  printouts  by 
using  multiple  passes.  This 
does  affect  printing  speed, 
liowever.  Thie  printing  speed 
in  NLQ  mode  is  about  30-50 
percent  slower  than  when 
printing  in  draft  mode. 

You  may  experience 
some  reduction  in  print  quali- 
ty when  using  fanfold  paper. 
Since  the  printer  grips  fan- 
fold  paper  less  firmiy  than 
{fiction-fed  single  sheets, 
you  often  get  a  line  or  two  of 
text  with  jagged  characters 
because  of  unavoidable 
paper  movement  between 
the  multiple  passes  of  the 
printhead.  A  24-pin  print- 
head  avoids  this  problem  by 
printing  LQ  characters  in  a 
single  pass.  Also,  by  using  a 
denser  dot-matrix  (up  to  30  x 
48  dots  per  character  as 
opposed  to  18  X  18  on  a  9- 
pin  printer),  a  24-pin  printer 
produces  letters  that  are  bet- 
ter shaped  with  smoother 
curves  than  its  9-pin  cousin. 
It  generally  prints  faster,  too. 


Some  Useful  Features 

As  I  mentioned  earlier, 
prices  of  dot-matrix  printers 
have  dropped  dramatically 
over  the  years,  and  to  make 
them  even  more  appealing, 
manufacturers  have  piled  on 
the  features.  Here  are  a  few 
that  can  mai^e  your  printing 
sessions  more  enjoyable. 

Paper  parking.  In  older  printers, 
at  any  gri/en  instant,  you  were  limited 
to  using  either  fanfold  paper  or  single 
sheets.  If  you  had  fanfold  paper  in  the 
printer  and  wanted  to  print  on  letter- 
head or  other  single-sheet  stoct^,  you 
had  to  remove  the  fanfold  paper. 
When  you'd  finished  with  the  single 
sheets,  you  then  had  to  go  through 
the  whole  tedious  procedure  of 
reloading  and  aligning  the  fanfold 
paper. 

In  newer  printers,  you  don't  have  to 
remove  fanfold  paper  in  order  to  use 
single  sheets.  It  can  be  "parked"  out 
of  the  way  while  single  sheets  are 
used.  When  you're  ready  to  switch 
back  to  fanfold,  it  can  be  brought 
back  into  position  by  moving  a  lever 
or  pressing  a  switch. 

In  some  printers,  the  parked  paper 
is  held  in  a  curved  shape.  If  the  paper 
is  left  for  a  day  or  two  like  this,  the  curl 
can  cause  the  paper  to  jam  or  at  least 

G-6      COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER   1993 


PRINTER  LIFESAVERS 

Dot-matrix  printers  typically  need  minimal  care,  but  here 
are  a  few  things  to  keep  them  online  even  longer. 

•  Use  the  best  quality  paper.  Cheap  paper  sheds  a  lot 
of  minute  particles.  This  paper  dust  can  mix  with  lubri- 
cants to  form  a  dough  that  can  clog  moving  parts. 

•  Clean  the  printer  by  lightly  vacuuming,  taking  care  not 
to  touch  ICs,  cables,  or  other  electronic  parts.  Static  elec- 
tricity generated  during  vacuuming  can  be  damaging. 

•  Smoking,  eating,  and  drinking  near  computer  equip- 
ment is  like  playing  Russian  roulette!  You'll  win  most  of 
the  time,  but  you'll  remember  the  time  you  lose. 

•  Once  or  twice  a  year,  depending  on  usage,  clean  the 
guide  rail  supporting  the  print  head  with  a  dry  lint-free 
cloth.  Lubricate  the  rail  sparingly  with  a  very  light  oil. 

•  Once  a  year,  clean  the  rubber  platen  and  paper  bail 
rollers  with  ethanol  (or  special  cleaning  solution  avail- 
able for  this  purpose  from  office  supply  stores)  and  with 
a  rubber-conditioning  compound. 

•  If  the  print  head  becomes  dirty  and  begins  to  smudge 
printouts,  remove  the  ribbon  and  then  use  a  strip  of  lint- 
free  wipes,  moistened  in  alcohol  to  gently  floss  the  print 
head  and  the  ribbon  mask  {the  plastic  or  metal  frame  that 
lies  between  the  print  head  and  the  paper). 

•  Never  use  a  ribbon  with  a  weak  area,  one  that 
appears  as  a  translucent  patch  when  the  ribbon  is 
viewed  against  light.  Don't  use  one  that  has  an  actual 
tear  in  it  as  this  could  snag  the  print  head  pins. 

•  Never  use  the  printer  for  extended  periods  of  time. 
Most  printers  have  a  detector  that  shuts  the  printer 
down  automatically  when  the  print  head  overheats. 
When  printing  more  than  a  few  pages,  it's  wise  to  leave 
the  cover  open  for  promoting  ventilation, 

•  Re-inking  a  printer  ribbon  might  appeal  to  the  Scrooge  in 
you,  but  it  could  cost  you  the  print  head!  For  proper  opera- 
tion, ribbons  need  to  have  the  right  amount  of  ink  and  lubri- 
cant. Darker  printing  ribbons  may  look  good  on  paper,  but 
they  generally  have  less  lubricants.  A  cheap  ribbon  that's 
short  on  lubricant  could  rip  and  catch  the  delicate  pins, 
costing  you  an  expensive  print  head  replacement. 


give  an  unsightly  top  page  on  the  next 
document  that's  printed. 

Other  printers  hold  the  parked  pa- 
per flat  and  don't  have  this  curly  prob- 
lem. In  fact,  even  when  using  fanfold 
paper,  it's  a  good  practice  to  park  the 
paper  at  the  end  of  each  session.  Pa- 
per left  wrapped  around  the  platen 
can  definitely  develop  a  curl,  giving 
you  a  top  page  that  looks  unruly. 

Zero-inch  tear  off.  With  earlier 
printers  equipped  with  pull-tractors, 
when  you  finished  printing  a  document, 
you  normally  had  to  advance  the  fan- 
fold,  tear  off  the  printed  pages,  and 
then  use  friction  feed  to  print  the  first 
half  of  the  next  page  until  it  caught  the 
tractor  sprockets.  You  then  took  the 
printer  offline,  engaged  the  paper  in  the 
sprockets  properly,  disengaged  the 
friction-feed,  and  printed  the  rest.  It  was 
as  painful  a  procedure  as  it  sounds. 

This  procedure  was  prone  to 
numerous  frustrating  problems,  espe- 


cially when  several  people 
used  the  same  printer.  It 
was  very  easy  to  have  mis- 
aligned sprocket  holes. 
Often,  someone  would  for- 
get to  disengage  the  friction 
setting  after  loading  the  fan- 
fold.  This  situation  usually 
occurred  when  you  went  for 
a  cup  of  coffee  after  starting 
to  print  your  20-page  docu- 
ment. 

The  other  option  was  to 
use  the  fanfold  from  the 
beginning  and  to  discard 
the  blank  top  page.  The 
trees  would  probably  like  to 
say  something  about  this 
wasteful  procedure. 

In  newer  printers  equip- 
ped with  pushfeeds,  it's 
possible  to  advance  the 
page  after  printing,  tear  off 
the  last  printed  page,  and 
then  retract  the  paper  to  the 
top  printing  position.  Rather 
than  going  through  the  con- 
tortions outlined  earlier,  all 
you  have  to  do  is  press  a 
switch  to  move  the  paper. 

Improved  paper  han- 
dling. Newer  impact  dot- 
matrix  printers  allow  a 
greater  adjustment  of  the 
gap  between  the  printhead 
and  the  platen,  thereby  per- 
mitting the  use  of  thicker 
forms.  In  general,  paper 
handling  is  more  positive, 
precise,  and  predictable  on 
newer  printers  than  on 
those  from  even  a  few  years 
ago.  The  improvement 
makes  it  much  easier  to 
print  envelopes,  multipart 
forms,  and  labels. 

Scalable  fonts.  No  matter  how 
good  a  regular  font  looks  {even  on  24- 
pin  printers),  the  jaggies  show  up 
when  you  print  them  in  double  width 
or  double  height.  Scalable  fonts 
smooth  out  the  jaggies.  With  them, 
new  printers  can  print  out  slick-look- 
ing characters  over  a  wide  range  of 
sizes.  A  few  printers  have  scalable 
fonts  built  in,  whiie  others  print  those 
with  the  help  of  special  software. 

Quiet  operation.  While  improved 
print  quality  attracts  users,  the  noise 
that  dot-matrix  printers  generate  turns 
quite  a  few  prospective  users  away.  A 
typical  workhorse,  churning  out  40-80 
ops  in  letter  quality  mode,  is  noisy 
enough  to  render  nearby  conversation 
impossible.  Printer  hoods  can  bring 
the  noise  down  considerably,  but  they 
take  away  easy  access  to  the  printer's 
controls  and  paper. 
Most  new  phnters  come  with  a  quiet 


SEPTENBER  FEST  -  TAKE  201  OFF  THE  TOTftL  OF  YOUR  ORDER! 

Valid  froi  ftug.  20  -  Sept,  30,  1993. 
C-64  «  C-128  »  C-14  t  Coiiodore  t/4    Coiputer  SoftMare 
PSe^Prn  Slip  Grph-Sd/sides-e/gaies-H/iath-S/sci-E/Eng-ED/educ 
GE/geog.-UT/uin-PR/prod-TE/telecoi-Hli/iusic  «  For 
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P  W  I!  [J,  [1..ITEHJ:  COST  t  SHIPPINS.i  HAKDLING  .[]_[)   [l.lljl 


PS6  t  nu  ts  35tl 
G-Holidaj  Graphics/Music  7*2 
C-SupHarioS.KrIout.Pokr.t 
0-128  Potpourri  U/P/E/S/T 
E-PLUS/4  Coibo  U/P/E/6/T 
F-Bks-  Instant  Activities 
G-EO  Pak-A  H/S/E/SE/  etc.  13+2 
H-EB  Pak-B  H/5/E/GE/  etc.  70t7 
1-Bks  Aiaiing  C64  or  128  3+2 
J-G  Pak-A  SupHario.IIJII    — 

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K-S  Pak"B  Trashian-Outpst 

Starraider  Air  Oeion 
L-People-554  PSG  NtFtCh. 
H-Dlsk  Notcher-    -Hon  use 

the  back  of  DD/DS  disks 


5*2 
5*2 
5*2 
1*2 


9*1 

9*1 
8*2 


3*1 


N-Recipe  Potpourri-178  leal  7*1 

O-KIV  Biett  -  For  the  t/4  30*4 

P-S  Pak-C  C128-(40/80)  60  G  13*2 

0-Ciassical  HU  Bach-Haydn*  7*2 

R-PETS  347  PSG  doi,  aniiais  10*2 

S-SPORTS  419  PSG  -  Nilture  10*2 

I-CftRTOOH  Char.  202  PSG  Hi«  5*2 

U-C0«PUTER  PARADE  255  PSG  5*2 

V-FASICAD  VI  (The  Enhanced  — 

CAD  3.0)  *  Support  Files  10*2 

U-FUN  GRAPHICS  HACH  0EKO*5O  — 

fonts  i  Hi-Res  Scrn  Duip  6*2 

X-1541/71/31  Utility  Coibo  12*3 

T-GEOS  Prograiier  Kanuai*  — 

GEOS  V.1.0  Oocuientation  8*2 
Z-KJV  BIBLE  for  C-128  mth 

40/80  col  reader/printer 


Avaihble-JiH  HEHL  COLLECTION  t/4  >  C-16  »  C-64 


4*1 
4*1 

9*1 

12*3 

5*2 


35*4 

5*1 
5*1 
4tl 
4*1 
7tl 
7tl 
7*1 
7*1 
2+) 

Send  SflSE  for  IHFO  on  The  HEHL  Collection  or  The  CLEARANCE  ITEMS. 
Reg.  cost/disk  side:  $3  1/1-3  (2.50  1/4-9  H.75  t/10-19,  etc, 
CATALOG  y/  1  disk;  C64/128-47p  [$2*21  i  i  1  J  J  Plus/4-18p  [»2*1] 
PlfhT-H0/CMI51/Bank-CA.fies.*8.25t  tx/itei  total-No  COD'S/Crt  Crd. 
HANDLING:  BnkChk/NO-!st  i  Chk  w/clrd  SIH:  USPS  Ooi/Intnat  Rates 

TO:  KFPDS/Kenneth  Franklin-P.O.  Box  470464-L.A.,Ca.  90047-0464 
He've  lost  of  the  PO  Select  C=  Library,  lie're  in  year  13.  Thanks! 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  197 


JHOO-Bible  liie  i4/64  25G  6*1 
JH0I-*/4  G-Pak  Over  200  G  30*5 
JH02-*/4/64  Teninal  Pak  9*1 
JH03-C16  Coibo  70  prgs  * 
]H04-Siiperbase  */4  i  Docs 
JH05-H. A. L.( update  In/docs 
Speedscrpt/ftssitilr+4 
JH06-tJ?t/4..Priitr,  Cprs, 
]H07-Printed  Ud/Fle.-C64 


JH08-5pell  Checkers  +4/64 
JK09-«any  PROJECTS  *4/64 
JHIO-HAH  RAOIS  PROGRANS  +4 
JHU-G  1  Progs.  C16/+4/64 
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Supports  drives  #  8-30.  New  Backup  (C128)  and  Format  (1571/1581) 
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Version  4.1  upgrade,  send  original  BBR  disk  plus  $18. 


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■*■  Any  questions?    Call  or  write  for  more  infornnation. 
Also  available!  Amiga.  Bible  Search 


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orders,  add  T^o  goods  and  services  lax. 


mode,  which  reduces  the  printing 
noise  by  slowing  down  the  printing 
speed.  Panasonic,  followed  by  others, 
has  gone  beyond  this  technique  to 
equip  newer  printers  with  quieter  mov- 
ing parts  and  added  insulation. 
There's  even  a  superquiet  mode  that 
aiters  the  method  of  firing  pins  in  two 
passes.  Even  at  regular  speeds,  these 
printers  are  supposed  to  produce 
about  ''■(.  as  much  noise  as  earlier 
printers. 

Color.  Practically  all  self-respect- 
ing dot-matrix  printer  manufacturers 
now  have  at  least  one  model  that 
prints  in  color.  Color  printers  use  a  rib- 
bon with  tracks  of  colored  ink  and  a 
motor  which  moves  the  ribbon  up  and 
down  to  bring  one  of  the  (usually) 
four-colored  bands  against  the  print- 
ing pins.  By  printing  in  one  color  and 
then  reprinting  over  it  in  another  color, 
up  to  seven  colors  can  be  generated. 

Since  accurate  registration  of 
superimposed  characters  is  essential, 
most  of  the  printers  become  unidirec- 
tional when  printing  in  color.  The 
resultant  output  is  slower  than  when 
the  printer  is  printing  with  a  black  rib- 
bon, but  the  only  other  alternative 
would  be  to  purchase  an  ink  jet  or 


color  laser  costing  many  times  more. 

Color  intensity  varies  from  printer  to 
printer,  and  one  band  of  color  in  the 
ribbons  usually  dries  out  faster  than 
the  others,  leading  to  shifts  in  hue 
over  a  period  of  use.  Colored  ribbons 
are  generally  two  to  three  times  more 
expensive  than  biack  ribbon,  and  they 
have  a  shorter  life. 

Improved  prlnthead  move- 
ment. Printers  rely  on  major  move- 
ment in  two  directions.  The  paper 
moves  up  and  down  (vertical  move- 
ment) while  the  printhead  moves  left 
and  right  (lateral  movement).  Some 
heads  rest  at  the  left  edge  of  the  print- 
ing line,  while  others  rest  in  the  mid- 
dle. Most  heads  print  a  line  from  left  to 
right  and  then  the  next  line  from  hght 
to  left.  Printers  that  use  this  bidirec- 
tional printing  can  often  figure  out 
after  printing  a  line  whether  it  would 
be  quicker  to  start  the  next  line  from 
the  left  or  right  edge  (logic-seeking). 

When  printing  graphics,  you  can 
either  select  bidirectional  or 
unidirectional  movement  for  improving 
vertical  alignment,  the  lack  of  which 
shows  up  when  printing  a  long  vertical 
straight  line.  The  faster  a  printer  is,  the 
more  likely  it  is  to  print  a  vertical  line 


that  appears  to  zigzag.  Some  printers 
compensate  for  this  by  allowing  you  to 
adjust  the  timing  for  the  printhead  to 
reach  the  starting  point  for  each  line 
(bidirectional  timing  adjustment). 

As  a  printer  grows  old  and  the  cog 
belts  that  move  the  head  become 
loose,  the  misalignnnent  becomes 
more  noticeable.  By  adjusting  the  tim- 
ing, you  can  get  a  few  more  miles  out 
of  it  before  you'll  be  forced  to  see  a 
service  technician. 

Printheads  must  move  parallel  to 
the  platen  (paper)  in  order  to  make  an 
even  impression  across  the  page. 
With  age,  this  alignment  could  go  out 
of  whack,  resulting  in  printouts  with  a 
darker  left  or  right  edge.  A  sawtooth 
test  pattern  that  can  be  generated  on 
some  printers  can  readily  reveal  such 
a  misalignment.  The  adjustment  that 
corrects  this  problem  shouldn't  be 
attempted  by  an  untrained  person. 
This  adjustment  may  also  be  required 
when  replacing  the  printhead.  (Such 
replacements  aren't  common  unless 
you  are  heavily  into  printing  bit- 
mapped images  and  large  banners.) 

Check  out  today's  feature-packed 
printers.  Their  low  price  and  high 
quality  make  them  a  great  buy.         3 


'^<=^4{)l^'     " 


G-8     COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


COMMODORE  64/128 

PUBLIC  DOMAIN 
SHAREWARE  PROGRAMS 

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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  253 


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REQUEST  5  25  OR  3  5  FOR  IBM 
SPECIFY  IBM  OR  C64 


?fe 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  234 


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Shipping  outside  of  US,  Canada  and  Mexico  add  $3 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  244 


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circle  Reader  Service  Number  146 


Fast  Action  Arcade  Style  Game 
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circle  Reader  Service  Number  289 


NEW  GEOS  SOFTWARE 
THE  LANDMARK  SERIES 

Dual  Top  ■  The  PREMIER  Desk  Top  feplaeemenl.  Provides  full  four  drive  -.uppon,  RAM  i 
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circle  Header  Service  Number  135 


REU  uiara:  Battery  BaO<  any  17xx,  or  GEORAM,  wiBi  Iha  BBU.  Use  with  GEOS  (V1.3  up), 
RAMDOS  or  other  progranu  SJial  u»  REUs.  Greal  for  BBS.  No  heavy  power  supply  needeO. 
GEOS  ueere;  BBGFlim,  Battery  backed  RAM  for  GEOS  2.0.  A  fast,  reliable  alternative  to 
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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  153 


eiEws 


BBU  AND  BBG 


Experts  said  these  products  could  nev- 
er be  made.  It's  a  good  thing  Perform- 
anoe  Peripherals  didn't  hear  that,  or  it 
might  not  have  created  BBU  and  BBG. 
BBU  i&  a  battery  backup  cartridge  for 
the  64  or  ^?.Q  that  provides  permanent 
memory  fnonvolatile)  for  Commodore 
RAM  expansion  units  and  geoRAM. 
BBG  is  a  backup  RAM  disk  for  GEOS 
2.0  GEOS  128.  or  Gateway  (CMDs 
GEOS  system).  BBG  is  available  in  siz- 
es ranging  from  512K  to  2MB. 

BBU 

One  RAM  cartridge  technician  told  me 
that  if  a  battery  backup  for  an  REU 
were  develooed.  it  would  be  the  size  of 
a  car  battery  and  wouldn't  hold  power 
for  more  than  a  few  minutes.  BBU  us- 
es an  AC  power  supply  backed  up  by 
four  D  batteries.  While  the  power  must 
be  on  for  the  cartridge  contents  to  be 
accessible,  I  have  left  only  the  batter- 
ies connected  for  over  a  day  without 
any  loss  of  cartridge  memory.  With 
care,  cartridge  portability  between  com- 
puters should  be  possible  as  long  as 
the  batteries  are  connected. 

BBU  allows  an  REU  to  be  used  in  its 
normal  way.  If  you  don't  initialize  the 
REU  when  you  load  the  Commodore 
RAfvlDOS,  whatever  was  previously 
stored  in  the  REU  will  still  be  available. 
In  my  case,  I've  found  programs  that 
I'd  copied  between  disks,  Speed- 
Script,  and  images  used  by  The  Print 
Shop  still  in  memory.  Of  course,  if  the 
program  you  use  automatically  initial- 
izes the  REU,  then  its  memory  will  be 
erased. 

The  Write  Stuff  word  processor  lets 
yoii  use  an  REU  to  store  its  large  dic- 
tionary and  text  files.  I  know  an  opera- 
tor of  a  mail-order  business  who  uses 
this  word  processor,  and  he  would 
leave  his  64  turned  on  from  Monday  to 
Fridav,  JList  to  be  sure  he  didn't  lose  any- 
thing. With  BBU,  the  computer  can  be 
turned  off  without  the  fear  of  losing  any 
files. 

fvlanv  BBU  users  will  place  GEOS  or 
Gateway  in  their  cartridges.  When 
Rboot  is  loaded  from  disk,  GEOS  and 
all  reouired  files  are  available  in  less 
than  eight  seconds.  This  technique 
nnakes  GEOS  a  true  operating  system, 
since  it  no  longer  has  to  be  loaded 

G-10        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


from  disk  like  a  program. 

BBG 

BBG  doesn't  use  an  REU.  It  holds  only 
GEOS  2.0  or  Gateway.  Loading  BBG 
Rboot  from  a  floppy  disk  provides  equal- 
ly fast  access  to  the  cartridge  con- 
tents. This  backup  cartridge  is  availa- 
ble in  sizes  ranging  from  512K  to  2MB. 
If  GEOS  2.0  is  used  with  the  provided 


BBU  IS  a  battery  backup  interface  module 
for  t/OO-  series  REUS  and  geoRAM  512. 


BBG  is  a  battery  baci^up  RAfvl  disk  for 
GEOS  2.0  and  GEOS  128. 

software,  the  cartridge  configures  itself 
in  sections  like  the  1750-series  RAM 
disk.  On  the  2MB  model,  this  is  like  hav- 
ing five  RAM  disks,  if  Gateway  is 
used,  BBG  is  configured  as  one  large 
RAM,  disk.  With  Gateway's  Slider  and 
Browse  functions,  this  makes  all  files 
easily  accessible. 

The  Aprospand  board  has  four  slots 
that  allow  up  to  four  cartridges  to  be 
switched  on  or  off  with  a  64  or  128.  I 
have  connected  one  of  these  boards 
to  my  cartridge  port  via  a  ribbon  ex- 
tender. This  ribbon  allows  more  eco- 
nomical use  of  table  space.  In  the  Apro- 
spand slots  I  have  connected  a  Quick 


Brown  Box  (QBB)  and  BBU  connected 
to  a  1750  REU.  A  QBB-specific  version 
of  The  Write  Stuff  word  processor  is  in 
the  QBB;  the  BBU-REU  combination 
contains  Gatev/ay,  With  this  setup,  it's 
possible  to  stop  writing  in  the  middle  of 
a  text  document,  load  geoTerm  from 
the  REU  in  eight  seconds,  and  return 
to  my  word  processor  with  no  loss  of 
text. 

The  Aprospand  makes  another  inter- 
esting combination  possible.  I  have 
used  one  board  to  access  both  BBU 
and  BBG.  I  placed  Gateway  in  both, 
and  found  that  I  could  run  GEOS  from 
either  with  no  interference  from  the  oth- 
er. This  could  increase  your  total  avail- 
able RAM  for  GEOS  {separately  accessi- 
ble), or  allow  use  of  GEOS  in  one  car- 
tridge and  Gateway  in  the  other,  since 
each  system  has  different  advantages. 
Employment  of  BBG  and  BBU  togeth- 
er would  require  ordering  BBG  with  the 
optional  disable  switch,  so  that  it 
would  not  be  available  when  BBU  was 
being  accessed.  A  reset  switch  is  stan- 
dard with  BBU  and  available  as  an  op- 
tion with  BBG. 

None  of  my  other  cartridges  works 
with  either  BBG  or  BBU.  In  order  to  use 
Gateway  in  my  BBU-REU  combination, 
I  have  sacrificed  the  ability  to  use  the 
REU  with  other  programs  for  fast  disk 
and  file  copying. 

Many  Commodore  users  will 
choose  to  place  BBG  or  BBU  directly 
in  their  cartridge  ports,  This  is  how 
BBG  and  BBU  were  designed  to  be 
used.  There  should  be  no  problems  for 
any  64  or  128  with  this  configuration. 

For  very  little  money,  REU  owners 
can  turn  their  64s  into  permanent-mem- 
ory machines  with  several  thousand  ki- 
lobytes of  memory.  GEOS  users  who 
don't  own  an  REIJ  should  appreciate 
BBG  especially  for  the  large  memory  it 
offers.  It's  a  tribute  to  Peter  Fiset,  the 
designer  of  both  BBG  and  BBU,  that  a 
number  of  other  combinations  are  pos- 
sible with  these  devices. 

Fiset  is  in  a  sense  competing 
against  himself,  since  he  also  devel- 
oped the  CMD  RAMDrive,  but 
RAMDrive  is  more  expensive  than 
these  cartridges.  BBU  and  BBG  are  for 
those  of  us  who  don't  have  a  large 
budget,  and  who  have  more  specific 
needs  for  our  computers. 

Although  the  experts  said  it  couldn't 


be  done,  Fiset  went 
proved  them  wrong,  t, 
glad  he  was  successful. 

JOHN  ELLIOTT 


ahead    and 
for  one,  am 


Performance  Peripherals 

5  Upper  Loudon  Rd. 

Loudonville,  NY  12211 

(800)  925-977^ 

BBU-S59 

BBG  (512K)— SB9 

BOG  {1MB)— S1 19 

BBG  {2MB)— $159 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  414 


I  PAINT 


Do  we  really  need  another  drawing  pro- 
gram? If  it's  for  the  128  and  if  it's  a  qual- 
ity program,  then,  yes,  we  do!  You  can 
now  add  I  Paint  to  your  short  list  of 
good  graphics  programs  for  the  128.  It 
requires  a  128D  or  128  with  64K  video 
RAM  added,  a  1351  or  compatible 
mouse,  and  an  RGBI  orSO-column  mon- 
itor. In  return,  !  Paint  offers  you  a  640- 
X  400-pixel  screen  and  the  ability  to 
blend  more  than  65,000  apparent  col- 
ors. While  they  aren't  required,  I  Paint 
supports  1700,  1764,  or  1750  RAM  ex- 
pansion units,  24-pin,  color,  and  laser 
pnnters, 

The  manual  describes  I  Paint  as  pro- 
ducing hi-res  interlaced  color  graphics 
for  the  128D.  I  immediately  found  my- 
self wondering  what  interlaced  meant, 
I  didn't  have  to  look  any  further  than 
the  manual  for  an  explanation. 

Basically,  a  video  image  is  made  up 
of  horizontal  scan  lines  which  are  bro- 
ken into  two  fields,  one  displaying  even 
lines  and  the  other  odd  lines.  If  an  im- 
age is  interlaced,  the  image  of  one 
field  appears  between  the  lines  of  the 
other  field.  This  method  doubles  the 
number  of  lines  holding  information, 
which  in  turn  doubles  the  vertical  pixel 
resolution.  I  realize  that  this  probably 
doesn't  make  much  sense  to  a  lot  of 
computer  users,  but  this  is  what  gives 
you  the  greater  resolution  and  all  of  the 
apparent  colors.  After  all,  interlaced 
graphics  is  what  this  program  is 
about. 

Getting  started  with  the  program 
posed  a  problem  for  me.  I  couldn't  get 
it  to  load  with  my  1571  drive.  The  au- 
thor provided  me  with  a  new  program, 
but  the  same  problem  still  plagued  me. 
Finally,  we  hooked  up  a  1541  drive. 


CMD  Sets  Pace  for  1993  with  New  Products  and  Lower  Prices 


CMD  Offers  One-Stop  Shopping  to  Commodore  Owners 

EilKIiva  Hay  1 ,  1M3  CMD  acquired  all  ngnss  !o  RUN  soUwaiB  and  Km  p,jn u^_ ^^^^ ,55^33  MicropiDii Bimes  Bmnk disks  - 3 5' S  5.!5' 

puidiaspd  ail  TO-ns  linm  Itieii  inventory.  As  lesuH,  CMD  »f  II  be  oBenng  ms  o!  bun  nefiUN  solwire  Kew  Pnmr  wbUjms  «,ic  IC  Cliips 

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!Ccay.CMO'sdeoSHQnfeinftKcesiIscommlmen1loC-&+12So*neiswOfttiNide.  GEOS  2.0  4  aopica-jDra  SkylesEroctncWcKks  .- and  MUCH  Mo!e 

IliSourhopelhaiwecanoBer  19/»5/£pillt]i^:'SloConimodOfei)Wlws.H  TmsMte Soltwais  Dr  Ti Muse Solwari 

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*i- 


CMD  Utilities 

FCOPY+ A  (VfD  drive  fillf  copier  lontUfJng  1M1.71,ei,  HEUanclCMO 
device  cDrflpaTibilily  whicti  is  capa&o  ot  copying  any  SilG  PHG.  SEQ, 
REL,  USH  File  NEW  taaiufes  .rrclufle 

Scratch'UnsctatchFihs  -Copy^DeieleCISBBooi  SeclDf  ■  Dishj'Psrlition 
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MCOPY  A  iwo  drive  whole  disk.paniiPon  h\e  copierwfiich  suppons  CMD 
sto'aqo  devices  and  CommcxAire  1541,  71.  81  diskdfives. 
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tJevicoorpaditiontoa  1 54 T. 7 1.31  d'lveorCMD  FO  SencsfSoppy  Stive 
This  new  version  incorpoalos  Ihe  abiiily  to  duinp  an  entife  CMO  dovice 
lo  an  HD  Sstigs  hard  drive 

RHD  SoarcHes  specified  pailit.ons  on  CMD  devices  Fr:r  t  es'f.i;  iTTtr-ch 
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DIR  SORT  Alphabeluirg  MWy  lor  1541.?! .81  drives  and  all  CMD 
s,to'*^ge  devices  makos  il  easy  lo  organize  large  d^r eclOrieS 
MCOMPARETiivodiived.Si(cornpafou!jij|yrnahcSi[eaS)ftOeva  w..t-j 
iho  accurancy  0I  a  CMD  paniTion  againsi  a  disk  copy 
FOLLOW  LINKS  Ho'ps  to  locale  and  remove  corrupt  files 
CONVEFIT  4lo71  Convers  Seween  1541  S  71  forrriats   Alia-s'S 
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Association 


0 


SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-11 


C64/128  PUBLIC  DOMAIN  SOFTWARE 

REQUEST  FREE  CATALOG  or  send  S2  for  sample  disk  and  catolog  (RE- 
FUNDABLE). Categories  include  education,  utilities,  gomes,  business. 
PRINT  SHOP  groptilcs,  pre-tested  programs  and  more.  Rent  for  75*  or 
buy  OS  low  as  SI. 00  per  disk  side  or  for  80«  for  70  or  more.  S20  order 
gets  4  free  disl<s  of  vour  ctioice. 
NEXT  DAY  SHIPPiNG!  SINCE  1986 

CALOKE  INDUSTRIES  (Dept.  GK) 

PC  BOX  18477,  RAYTOWN,  MO  64133 


VISA 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  131 


DEPENDABLE  SERVICE  FOR  YOUR  COMMODORE! 


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503  East  SI.  Depl.  C 
Pitlsfield.  MA  01201 


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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  242 


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A  TALE  OF  MYTH  AND  LE 

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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  113 


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64C:  $50.DO 
C128D:  J74,95 


C-G4:  S40,00   1541:  $54.95 
1541-11:  $64.95  C128:  $64.95 
1581:  $64.95   ETC 

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Label  Maker*  use  t1  pra.designedlabeteorcreateyourQwn,noppy&micrp 
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Mail  List  Manager- Makes  mail  listmanagementasnapl  Print  one  record  atalime,pld<andc)ioose 
for  enporting  or  priming,  or  print  Ihe  enBie  list  Holds  300  lecords  for  each  C64  list,  1000  lor  C12fl.  transfsf 
be  t*een  lis  Is.  Use  new  label  desijniaBated  with  tatie(  Mater.  Bo8i  64  and  128vei5ionsinduded-S1».9S 

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Keystone  Software  Dept.G  P.O.  Box  8369  Piiisburgii,  pa.  15218 

412-243-1049  Fan:  4 12-731 -2460  Hours:  9  to  5  Eastern  Time 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  170 
G-12        COtvlPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


REVIEWS 


and  tlie  program  loaded.  Tire  author 
took  my  disk  and  loaded  it  witin  his 
1571  drive,  so  I'm  inclined  to  think  my 
drive  was  to  blame. 

To  start,  plug  your  mouse  into  port  1 
and  then  boot  the  program.  The  first 
menu  provides  four  options:  Start,  Set- 
up, Install  RAMDOS,  or  Exit.  For  the 
first  time,  choose  Start.  You  can  play 
around  with  the  Setup  process  later. 
When  you  get  around  to  setting  up  the 
program,  one  of  the  choices  involves 
the  mouse.  It  can  be  set  up  as  either  a 
left-handed  or  right-handed  mouse. 
The  setup  configures  the  On  button  un- 
der your  index  finger  and  the  Off  but- 
ton under  your  middle  finger. 

The  next  menu  will  be  the  main 
menu,  which  will  present  a  selection  of 
14  options.  These  are  Pen,  Brush, 
Spray  Can,  Shapes.  Fill,  Palette,  Mag- 
nify, Areas,  Drawmode,  Text,  Files, 
Print,  Options,  and  Clear.  You'll  notice 
that  the  Pen  icon  will  be  reversed. 
This  indicates  that  the  Pen  mode  is  ac- 
tive. From  this  point  on,  the  artist  in  you 
is  given  the  freedom  and  power  to  cre- 
ate works  from  the  most  simple  to  the 
intricately  involved. 

I'm  not  an  artist — computer  or  other- 
wise— but  as  I  sat  in  front  of  the  com- 
puter drawing  cute  little  geometrical 
shapes  and  filling  them  in  with  different 
blocks  of  color,  I  felt  rather  creative 
and  proud  of  what  I  could  do  with  this 
program.  Then  I  loaded  some  files  of 
pictures  the  author  had  supplied.  The 
impact  of  what  could  be  done  with 
this  program  was  overwhelming.  For 
the  person  who  enjoys  computer-aided 
drawing  and  creating  personal  de- 
signs, this  is  an  ideal  program. 

You  are  provided  with  three  modes 
of  freehand  drawing:  Pen,  Brush,  and 
Spray  Can.  Each  of  these  modes  al- 
lows you  to  clip  and  paste  and  select 
colors  while  maintaining  your  choice  of 
drawing  mode.  Each  is  represented  by 
an  icon  on  the  main  menu. 

The  Palette  icon  on  the  main  menu 
calls  up  its  own  menu  when  clicked  on. 
In  the  color  mode,  ink  and  paper  col- 
ors are  selected  for  both  fields  of  the  in- 
terlace screen.  There  are  16  colors 
from  which  to  choose.  By  clicking  on 
the  palette  on  the  submenu,  you  enter 
the  Color  Wash  mode.  Here,  you  are 
able  to  change  colors  without  affecting 
the  bitmap  data,  it  is  well  worth  the 
time  to  experiment  with  the  effects 
that  can  be  created  using  the  various 
coloring  combinations. 

I  Paint  includes  all  of  the  basic  tools 
that  can  be  found  in  most  drawing  pro- 
grams, it  gives  you  the  ability  to  clip, 


paste,  reverse,  flip,  and  create  pat- 
terns. There's  also  a  text  mode  that  of- 
fers a  choice  of  six  fonts,  a  system 
font,  and  one  loadable  custom  font. 
You  can  manipulate  text  as  to  its  direc- 
tion on  the  drawing  and  character 
size,  and  there  are  six  other  options  for 
greater  flexibility  and  creativity. 

My  only  real  complaint  is  that  the  pro- 
gram is  slow  to  load  and  to  print  out 
my  creations,  but  we  can  thank  Com- 
modore  for  that.  Perhaps  even  that 
drawback  has  its  advantage.  I  can 
start  loading  the  program,  go  make  my 
necessary  cup  of  tea,  and  be  back  at 
the  computer  ready  to  work  by  the 
time  that  the  program  has  loaded. 

I  Paint  is  a  powerful  graphics  pro- 
gram, It's  loaded  with  features  that 
time  and  space  don't  allow  me  to  go  in- 
to, so  I  can't  give  them  their  proper 
due.  If  you're  the  type  of  person  who  en- 
joys drawing  at  the  computer  and  cre- 
ating graphic  designs,  then  this  pro- 
gram is  well  worth  your  time  and  finan- 
cial investment, 

CHERYL  SCHUH 

Living  Pfcraf 

P.O.  Box  80714 

Minneapolis,  MN  55408-8714 

$39.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  413 


GRAFfX  GRAB  BAG 

The  Print  Shop  has  long  been  a  favor- 
ite with  64  users  for  combining  text  and 
graphics  to  create  greeting  cards, 
signs,  fliers,  and  banners.  You  can 
type  in  any  message  you  like  and  com- 
bine it  with  any  of  60  graphic  images — 
but  everyone  needs  more  graphics. 

That's  where  Clip  Art  Cupboard 
comes  in.  It  offers  Grafix  Grab  Bag.  a 
disk  filled  with  80  additional  images 
that  load  easily  into  The  Print  Shop. 

Grafix  Grab  Bag  is  just  that,  a  grab 
bag  of  art,  ranging  from  banks  and  ba- 
nanas to  the  White  House  and  a  wise 
owl.  A  cannon,  cathedral,  mouse,  nin- 
ja,  taco,  and  tulip  are  some  of  the  oth- 
er graphics  available  on  this  disk.  You 
even  get  the  Titanic  going  down. 

The  disk  works  with  whichever  side 
of  the  Print  Shop  disk  you  use.  Graph- 
ics compatible  with  side  A  are  on  the 
front  of  the  disk,  and  side  B  graphics 
are  on  the  back.  If  you  want  to  have 
more  graphics  at  your  disposal — and 
have  them  for  a  low  price — reach  into 
this  collection  and  grab  one. 

TOM  NETSEL 


Clip  Art  Cupboard 
P.O.  Box  317774 
Clncinnali,  OH  45231 
S1 1.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  416 


TM 


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INTERNATIOMAL  ORDER  UNE:  (9141  357-2424 

is  Md, '  .'tTs  ire  Wnis  OT  call  for  puces 


Circte  Reader  Service  Number  159 


Record  Filer  I 

FOR  BUSENESS  OR 
PERSONAL  USE. 
Our  easy  to  use  0  Primer 
File  Maker  lets  you  enler 
your  own  printer's  code  or 
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P.O.  BOX  77123 
WASH.tjGTON.  DC  20013-7123 


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Laliel  Prinioul  1 ,  2,  or  3  lolumii!.  NO  SETU  P-BOOK/MAN  UAL 
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Read-Edit-Lisl-Prinl-Dclcle;  Fau  Scarth  Ijy  4  mclhodVG  types  + 
■Unique"  Scarih  ican'hei  and/or  pnnl  ftrim  any  wl  of  iiniqiie  lelteri  in 
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PRINTOUT  B^'  ruTA  FROM  ANY  OF  9  FIELDS  FIELD/CHARAC- 
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NOTHING  HIDES  FROM  Ml  ■  RELAX  -  LET  RFI  DO  THE  WORK 
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GALACTIC  CONQUEST 


GALACTIC  CONQUEST h  the  best  conquest  game  for  the  C64! 
Command  hundreds  of  star  ships  as  you  conquer  other  worlds  and  extend 
your  empire.  Watch  out  for  black  holes,  photon  storms,  stars  that  go  nova 
and  General  Badguy.  t-6  players.  Comes  with  Mario's  Sister  Giana, 
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MAPPING 

THE 

Commodore 

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The  classic  best-selling 
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guide.  Mapping  the  Com- 
modore 64  and  64C  is  a 
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guide  for  beginning  and  advanced  programmers. 

To  order  your  copy  send  $18.95  plus  $2,50  for  shipping  and  handling 
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Orders  will  be  shipped  via  UPS  Ground  Service.  Offer  good  while 
supplies  last. 


SEPTEMBER  1993     COMPUTE        G-13 


FEEDBACK 


Questions 

and  answers  about 

switcliing  out 

ROM  to  get  more 

RAM,  printers, 

interlaces,  and  more 


IWore  RAM 

I  know  Ihe  64  has  8K  of  RAM 
under  BASIC  ROM  at  40960- 
49151  and  that  it  can  be 
used  as  long  as  BASIC  isn't 
being  used.  Which  machine 
language  LDA  and  STA  do  I 
need  to  use  to  switch  be- 
tween ROM  and  RAM? 

NICOLE  BLAKE 
NEW  YORK.  NY 

I'd  like  to  write  a  program  en- 
tirely in  ML,  but  I  need  about 
50K  of  free  RAM,  My  machine 
language  book  says  I  can 
free  a  memory  block  from 
S0801  to  SCFFF  with  LDA 
#$36:  STA  $01.  But  when  I  do 
this,  the  computer  crashes.  Ei- 
ther something's  wrong  with 
my  computer  or  I  can't  use 
this  free  RAM  in  direct  mode. 
Can  you  tell  me  how  can  I  pro- 
gram this  memory? 

JASPER  HOUK 
OUINBYCUL.  VA 


G-14 


Bit  0  of  location  1  determines 
wliettier  ttie  computer  sees 
memory  at  $AOOO-$BFFF  as 
BASIC  ROM  or  as  Ihe  RAM  un- 
derneath. Bit  1.  likewise, 
sees  memory  at  $E000- 
$FFFF  as  Kernal  ROM  or  as 
the  RAM  underneath.  If  either 
bit  is  on.  ROM  is  enabled.  If 
both  are  off,  the  memory  is 
available.  On  the  64,  lo  turn 
off  the  BASIC  ROM,  store  a 
$06  into  location  $01.  To  turn 
off  both  BASIC  and  Kernal 
ROM,  store  a  $04  in  location 
$01.  To  recover  both,  store  a 
$07  in  the  same  location.  You 
mustn't  turn  off  the  Kernal 
ROM  with  BASIC  ROM  still  en- 
gaged because  BASIC  relies 
upon  the  Kernal. 

If  you  make  this  memory 
available  without  copying 
ROM  to  the  RAM  underneath, 
you  pay  a  price — you  lose  BA 
SIC  ROM  and/or  Kernal  ROM. 
BASIC  is  gone,  which  is  fine  if 
you're  writing  a  program  entire- 
ly in  ML  and  If  the  program 
doesn't  call  any  built-in  ROM 
routines  from  that  area.  But 

COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


you  must  store  a  $07  to  loca- 
tion $01  before  you  end  the 
ML  program  and  return  to  di- 
rect mode.  BASIC  is  In 
charge  of  monitoring  your 
keypresses,  printing  them  to 
the  screen,  and  interpreting 
commands  (such  as  RUN  or 
SYS)  thai  you  might  type.  If 
you've  switched  out  BASIC,  di- 
rect mode  will  seem  to  be  lock- 
ed up. 

What  about  the  case 
where  you've  copied  the 
ROM  routines  to  the  RAM  un- 
derneath? Well,  as  long  as 
the  process  was  done  correct- 
ly and  that  RAM  wasn't  over- 
written later,  switching  out 
ROM  should  be  no  problem. 
The  correct  way  of  writing  BA- 
SIC ROM  to  RAM  Is  as  simple 
as  the  following. 

FOR  X=40960  TO  49151:  POKE  X, 
PEEK{X):  NEXT 

Just  modify  the  range  to  cov- 
er the  addresses  from  57344 
to  65535  if  you  want  the  Ker- 
nal ROM  copied  also.  Whatev- 
er you  do,  don't  disable  BA- 
S!G  until  after  this  routine  has 
run,  because  it  uses  BASIC  to 
work! 

Software  or  Interface? 

I  have  a  64,  a  1541  disk 
drive,  an  Epson  RX-80  printer, 
and  a  Turboprint/GT  inter- 
face. I  wrote  a  multipage  re- 
port in  Homeword  with  top, 
bottom,  and  side  borders  de- 
fined according  to  the  word 
processor's  instructions. 
When  the  report  was  printed, 
the  first  page  was  OK,  but 
each  succeeding  page  want 
beyond  the  bottom  border 
and  crossed  over  the  page 
serrations. 

When  I  initially  set  up  the 
printer  and  interface,  I  set  ihe 
DIP  switches  by  the  instruc- 
tions, I  did  find  that  I  had  to 
set  one  on  the  printer  to  off  to 
prevent  doubie-spacing  be- 
cause the  computer  controls 
the  linefeed.  The  test  pro- 


gram built  into  the  printer 
worked  perfectly  across  multi- 
page  prints,  recognizing  the 
end  of  the  page  and  going  to 
the  next  page. 

Am  I  the  one  at  fault?  Or  is 
the  problem  with  the  software 
or  the  interface? 

SCARLET  LYNCH 
WAYCflOSS.  GA 

There  are  a  couple  of  solu- 
tions to  your  problem.  But 
first  here's  an  explanation 
which  applies  to  printers  and 
interfaces  in  general. 

'\A/hen  the  printer  finishes 
printing  a  line,  two  things 
need  to  happen:  The  print- 
head  should  move  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  line,  and  the  pa- 
per should  advance  one  line. 
Traditionally,  a  carriage  return 
(OR)  only  moves  the  print- 
head  to  the  beginning  of  the 
line  It's  on.  It  can  thus  be 
used  to  print  a  line  and  go 
back  to  the  beginning  to  un- 
derline or  overstrike  various 
characters  that  are  already 
printed.  A  separate  linefeed 
(LF)  character  causes  the  pa- 
per to  move  up  a  line.  The  AS- 
CII codes  for  CR  and  LF  are 
CHR$(t3)  and  CHR$(10).  re- 
spectively 

Commodore  printers  and 
screens  use  only  a  CR  at  the 
end  of  a  line.  In  this  case, 
CHR$(13)  means  move  to  the 
beginning  of  a  line  and  move 
to  the  next  line.  It  also  means 
you  need  to  add  a  linefeed 
when  you  print  something  to 
the  printer. 

The  printer,  the  Interface, 
and  the  computer  are  all  pro- 
grammable. There  are  a  vari- 
ety of  ASCII  codes  you  can 
use  to  send  commands  to 
each  of  them.  In  addition,  print- 
ers and  Interfaces  generally 
have  rows  of  DIP  switches 
you  can  set  to  create  various 
effects. 

All  three  devices— the  com- 
puter, the  interface,  and  the 
printer— are  capable  of  add- 
ing the  linefeed.  The  question 


is,  who's  in  charge?  If  no  de- 
vice adds  a  CHR$(10),  every- 
thing will  print  on  the  same 
line.  On  the  other  hand,  you 
could  have  a  program  that 
sends  a  13  plus  a  10.  The  in- 
terface sees  the  13  and  adds 
another  CHR$(10),  and  the 
printer  says  to  itself,  "Aha,  a 
13  just  arrived.  I'd  better  add 
a  linefeed. "  In  this  case, 
you'd  have  triple  spacing. 

It  doesn't  really  matter 
which  device  adds  the  line- 
feed, as  long  as  one  (and  on- 
ly one)  does  so. 

The  same  idea  applies  to 
skipping  over  the  perforation 
at  the  end  of  the  page. 
You've  indicated  that  the  print- 
er is  set  to  skip  over  the  per- 
foration. The  printer  keeps  a 
tally  of  how  many  lines  have 
been  printed  so  far  VWien  the 
page  Is  nearly  full.  It  skips 
ahead  a  few  lines  to  start  a 
new  page. 

The  problem  is  that  your 
word  processing  program  is 
doing  the  same  thing.  When  it 
approaches  the  bottom  of  a 
page,  it  sends  some  blank 
lines.  In  the  meantime,  the 
printer  has  also  decided  to 
move  to  the  next  page  and, 
when  it  gets  there,  starts  print- 
ing the  blank  lines  the  comput- 
er has  sent. 

You'll  have  to  decide  who's 
in  charge  of  skipping  over  the 
perforation  between  pages.  If 
it's  the  printer,  then  set  the 
word  processing  program  to 
have  no  margin  at  the  top  or 
bottom.  If  the  word  processor 
controls  the  margins,  then 
you'll  have  to  turn  off  the  au- 
tomatic paging  feature  of  the 
printer. 

Empty  Arrays 

I'm  writing  a  program  on  my 
128  using  80  columns,  and 
Tm  having  a  problem  han- 
dling arrays.  If  no  data  is  en- 
tered in  an  array,  the  data 
doesn't  stay  where  1  put  it. 
The  first  time  through  the  pro- 
gram, everything  is  where  it 


should  be,  On  each  subse- 
quent reading  of  the  sequen- 
tial file,  data  shifts  to  the  left 
to  fill  any  empty  arrays. 

ALVIN  DWINDLE 
MCLEAN.  VA 

When  you  create  an  array  us- 
ing DIM,  numeric  arrays  are  in- 
itialized to  Os,  and  string  ar- 
rays are  initialized  to  null 
strings.  A  null  string  contains 
no  characters;  It's  a  string  full 
of  nothing.  If  you  open  a  se- 
quential file  and  write  a  null 
string  to  it,  you're  writing  noth- 
ing at  all  to  the  file.  A  PRINT# 
statement  generally  adds  a 
carriage  return-~CHR$(13)— 
after  each  string  or  number, 
so  if  you  examine  the  con- 
tents of  the  file,  you'll  see  a 
CHR$(13)  only  We  experi- 
mented a  bit  with  sequential 
files  and  discovered  that  IN- 
PUT#  doesn't  like  null  sthngs. 
For  example,  if  you  PRINTS 
"ABC"  followed  by  a  null 
string  and  then  "DEF"  and 
read  through  the  characters 
(with  GET#).  you'll  see  65,  66. 
67.  13.  13.  68.  69,  70,  13-^ 
three  ASCII  characters  for 
ABC,  a  13.  nothing  for  the 
null  string,  another  13,  then 
three  ASCII  characters  for 
DEF,  followed  by  another  13 
(carriage  return). 

If  you  INPUr#  from  the  file, 
you'll  receive  an  ABC  and  a 
DEF,  but  no  null  string.  This  is 
true  in  both  64  and  128 
modes. 

A  couple  of  solutions  are 
available.  The  first  is  to  avoid 
writing  a  null  string  if  you're  go- 
ing to  use  INPUTS  to  read  the 
file.  Instead,  send  some  char- 
acter to  indicate  a  null  entry 
INPUT  and  INPUT#  ignore 
leading  spaces,  so  don't 
send  a  space.  You  should  be 
able  to  use  any  other  charac- 
ter— including  a  shifted 
space.  CHR$  (160).  The  sec- 
ond is  to  avoid  using  INPUTff. 
'  If  you  use  GET#  to  retrieve 
one  character  at  a  time,  you 
can  concatenate  the  string  un- 


til it  encounters  a  CHRS(13). 

Graphics  Mode 

While  trying  to  write  a  simula- 
tion program  for  the  Commo- 
dore 128,  I  can't  get  variables 
to  print  in  the  graphics  mode. 
Here  is  part  of  my  program. 

10  GRAPHICI.I 

15  H=180 

20  CHAR  1,5,5, 'HEADING;" 

;H 

The  variable  in  line  20  doesn't 
print  out.  what's  wrong? 

STEVE  PETnGREW 
COLTON.  CA 

BASIC  7.0's  CHAR  statement 
won't  print  the  value  of  a  nu- 
meric variable;  it  will  display 
only  strings  (or  the  contents 
of  string  variables).  Fortunate- 
ly. BASIC  provides  a  simple 
way  to  generate  a  string  con- 
taining the  digits  of  a  numeric 
variable — the  STH$  function. 
For  example.  A$=STR$(123) 
produces  the  same  result  as 
AS="123".  and  STR$(H)  will 
produce  the  string  equivalent 
of  the  value  of  the  numeric  var- 
iable H.  There's  just  one  oth- 
er consideration;  Unlike 
PRINT  CHAR  will  display  on- 
ly a  single  string,  so  you  can 't 
use  print  separators  like  the 
semicolon  you  have  In  line  20 
above.  Instead,  you  must  use 
the  +  operator  to  concatenate 
(join)  any  substrings  into  a  sin- 
gle string.  Here's  a  workable 
version  of  line  20  for  your  pro- 
gram fragment: 


20  CHAR  1,5,5, 

+STRS(H) 


'HEADING: 


Working  with 
arrays  and  printing 
variables  in 
grapliics  mode  on 
the  128 


Do  you  have  a  question  or 
comment?  Have  you  discov- 
ered something  that  could 
help  other  Commodore  us- 
ers? Write  to  Gazette  Feed- 
back. COMPUTE  Publica- 
tions, 324  West  'Wendover  Av- 
enue. Suite  200,  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina  27408.  3 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-15 


PD  PICKS 


Steve  Vander  Ark 


Here  are  a  couDle 

of  excellent, 

head-banging  utilities 

that'll  make 

managing  a  1581 

drive  almost  fun. 


G-16 


1581  UTILITIES 

For  the  past  two  issues  I've 
been  rummaging  around  in 
QuantumLJnks's  more  exciting 
(sillier?)  corners,  pulling  out 
some  dynamite  games — the 
kind  of  games  that'll  keep  you 
glued  to  your  monitor  for 
hours.  Hey,  I  happen  to  like 
games!  So,  sue  me! 

But  enough  games!  How 
about  something  for  you  1581 
users?  This  month  ( figured  I'd 
dish  up  something  a  little  dif- 
ferent: utilities — some  really  ex- 
cellent, head-banging  utilities. 
A  contradiction  of  terms,  you 
say?  Not  on  your  life.  Utilities 
have  their  own  kind  of  cool,  es- 
pecially the  ones  I've 
scrounged  up  for  you.  The 
point  is,  when  you  need  utili- 
ties, these  will  do  the  job  with 
that  little  extra  oompf  that  al- 
most makes  the  work  fun. 

If  you're  humming  "Spoon- 
ful of  Sugar"  now  and  shaking 
your  head,  just  hang  on.  You 
need  to  format  a  disk  and  re- 
arrange a  directory  now  and 
then,  same  as  anyone  else.  Un- 
less you  get  a  thrill  out  of  mem- 
orizing BASIC'S  gobbledy- 
gook  commands,  you'll  be 
glad  to  have  these  utilities 
around.  Trust  me! 


1581  DIsl(  Utilities 

By  Joe  Gilberto 
Q-Link  filename:  1581  UT- 
128R1.5,  uploaded  by  DrJoe. 
This  program  requires  a  128 
with  a  1581  or  other  drive  and 
an  80-column  monitor. 

It's  hard  to  find  a  good 
disk  utility  on  Q-Link  by  sim- 
ply browsing  the  libraries.  Eve- 
ry one  of  the  myriad  files  in 
that  area  has  the  name  Disk 
Utility,  which  tells  you  nothing. 
That's  why  I'm  all  for  gutsy 
names,  the  kind  that  get  your 
attention.  Fortunately,  Q-Link 
users  often  leave  comments 
on  files  after  they've  download- 
ed them  and  taken  them  for  a 
spin,  I  started  perusing  the 
comments  and  quickly  nar- 

COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


rowed  the  utilities  down  to 
just  a  few  that  really  have 
some  substance. 

This  nifty  program  was  the 
winner,  hands  down.  I  do 
wish  it  had  a  snazzier  name, 
something  macho  like  Disk 
Commander  or  clever  like 
Disk-Functional  or  even  just 
plain  weird  like  DisKom- 
BooBaLate.  A  good  name 
would  make  you  want  to  try 
this  puppy  out.  But  it's  a  utili- 
ty so  it's  got  a  boring  name. 

You  won't  have  to  look 
deeper  than  a  sprite  or  two  to 
notice  this  program's  elegant 
touches.  It  uses  windows  to 
set  up  the  80-column  screen 
in  two  sections,  one  for  the 
menu  of  options  and  the  oth- 
er for  displaying  disk  directo- 
ries, It  does  this  with  all  the 
sleekness  of  a  Jaguar  parked 
in  front  of  the  opera.  It  flips 
you  back  and  forth  between 
menus  just  as  smoothly,  al- 
ways taking  you  where  you 
want  to  go  in  the  program 
with  quiet  ease.  Unobtrusive 
prompts  remind  you  to  turn 
up  your  monitor's  sound  so 
you'll  get  the  full  effect  of  the 
SID  chip's  contribution. 

I  don't  know  why,  but  the 
80-column  screen  always 
seems  to  have  its  own  special 
elegance,  a  kind  of  ambience 
of  efficiency  with  a  touch  of  a 
smile.  If  you  don't  have  a 
clue  as  to  what  I'm  talking 
about,  check  out  this  pro- 
gram for  a  good  example. 

Its  list  of  options  includes 
all  the  usual  disk  and  file  func- 
tions: copying,  renaming,  de- 
leting, and  so  on.  The  1581 
drive  in  particular  is  support- 
ed with  numerous  features  de- 
signed for  that  device  only. 
The  program  works  with 
CMD's  RAM  devices,  but  not 
between  their  partitions.  If  you 
do  heavy-duty  work  on  those 
devices,  you're  better  off  with 
CMD's  own  utility  disks. 

And  last  but  not  least,  get 
a  load  of  that  error  sound! 
There's  no  way   I   can   de- 


scribe it  to  you,  but  it's  almost 
worth  getting  this  program 
just  to  hear  it! 

1581  Directory  Assistant 

By  Captain  Morgan 
Q-Link   filename:    1581DIR/ 
CAPCODE,     uploaded     by 
Dakkri,  This  program  works 
with  a  1581  and  a  64  or  128. 

I  have  been  running  myself 
ragged  trying  to  find  a  64 
disk  utility  program  with  as 
much  pizazz  as  the  128's 
1581  Disk  Utilities.  This  one, 
1581  Directory  Assistant,  is 
similar,  with  a  slick  opening 
graphics  screen  and  inter- 
face. In  addition  to  the  usual 
formatting  and  file  handling,  it 
features  an  option  to  add  a 
dashed  line  in  the  directory  list- 
ing to  separate  group  files. 

There  are  a  few  drawbacks 
to  this  program.  For  one 
thing,  it  didn't  seem  to  want  to 
recognize  my  CMD  FD-4000 
disk  drive  as  a  1581,  even 
though  I  had  a  1581-format 
disk  in  the  drive.  That  sur- 
prised me,  since  the  FD  has  al- 
ways doubled  as  a  1581  with- 
out the  slightest  hitch.  Sec- 
ond— and  this  will  affect  more 
of  you — this  program  is  for 
the  1581  drive  only;  it  in- 
cludes no  commands  for  the 
1541,  1571,  or  any  RAM  de- 
vice. I  know  that  quite  a  few 
of  you  use  one  of  those  other 
types  of  drives  at  least  as 
much  as  you  do  a  1581,  so 
this  utility  must  be  only  one  of 
several  you'll  need  to  get 
your  work  done, 

But  don't  get  me  wrong; 
this  program  is  a  very  nice 
piece  of  work,  It  does  what 
it's  supposed  to  and  even 
manages  to  do  it  with  a  little 
flair.  The  author  has  tried  to  in- 
clude every  type  of  1581  op- 
tion he  could  imagine. 

So  if  you  have  a  1581, 
you'll  want  to  check  out  these 
two  programs.  Look  for  them 
on  a  BBS  near  you,  on  Quan- 
tumLink.  or  on  this  month's  Ga- 
zette Disk.  0 


SOFTWARE  CLOSEOUTS 

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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  162 


MACHINE  LANGUAGE 


Jim  Butterfield 


Load  and  run 
a  machine  language 

program  from 
within  a  BASIC  one. 


BOOT  BASICS 

There  are  several  ways  to 
choose  a  location  for  a  ma- 
chine language  program.  One 
good  method  is  to  stick  it  onto 
the  end  of  a  BASIC  program. 
That  way,  BASIC  and  ML  will 
load  together.  A  method  that 
I  often  use  in  this  column  is  to 
poke  the  program  into  a  cho- 
sen part  of  memory. 

When  a  machine  language 
program  is  located  away  from 
its  BASIC  driver,  it's  often  nec- 
essary for  the  BASIC  and  ML 
programs  to  be  loaded  in  sep- 
arate actions.  To  spare  the  us- 
er from  the  need  to  type  a  com- 
plex loading  sequence,  pro- 
grammers use  boot  programs. 

A  boot  program  may  load 
many  items  into  various  parts 
of  memory.  For  example,  you 
could  have  it  load  a  video 
screen,  a  machine  language 
program,  and  a  music  player. 

We'll  look  at  a  simple  boot 
program  that  loads  a  machine 
language  program  from  disk 
and  then  proceeds  to  call  it  as 
needed,  First,  let's  create  a 
very  simple  ML  program  that 
prints  the  message  HELLO. 

2000    LDX  #$00 

2002    LOA  $2Q0E,X 

JSR  SFFD2 

INX 

CPX  #$07 

BNE  $2002 

RTS 
0200E  43  45  4C  4C  4F  21  OD 

Using  a  machine  language 
monitor  program,  you  could  en- 
ter the  code  almost  exactly  as 
shown  above  and  then  save  it 
to  disk  with  a  command  such 
as:  S  "HI.ML",08,2000,2015. 
You  could  also  create  the  pro- 
gram using  the  following  BA- 
SIC program. 


100  REM  HELLO  ML  MAKER 

110  DATA  0,32 

120  DATA  162.0,189,14,32,32, 

210,255 
130  DATA  232,224,7,208,245,96 

G-ie        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


140  DATA  72,69,76,76,79,33,13 
200  OPEN  1, 8,2, "0:HLML,P,W" 
210  READ  A:T=T+A 
22DPRINT#1,CHR$(A|; 
230  N=N+1 

240  IF  N<23  GOTO  210 
250  CLOSE  1 

260  PRINT  "FILE  WRIHEN!" 
270  IF  T<>2356  THEN  PRINT 
"...  WRONG!" 

Do  not  overlook  the  semico- 
lon at  the  end  of  line  220.  Run 
the  program,  and  it  will  gener- 
ate file  HI. ML,  Later,  if  you  en- 
ter LOAD  ■■HI.ML-.S.l  fol- 
lowed by  SYS  8192.  the  pro- 
gram prints  HELLOIJhe  extra 
,1  at  the  end  of  the  LOAD  com- 
mand forces  the  program  to 
be  loaded  without  relocation 
at  address  hex  2000  (decimal 
8192). 

Now,  we'll  ask  a  BASIC  pro- 
gram to  act  as  a  boot,  bring- 
ing in  our  HI. ML  program  and 
then  calling  upon  it  to  perform 
the  greeting.  Before  we  do, 
however,  we  must  go  to 
"boot  camp"  and  learn  some 
new  rules. 

On  the  Commodore  128, 
command  BLOAD  "HI. ML" 
would  do  everything  we  need- 
ed: It  would  bring  in  the  pro- 
gram and  allow  us  to  contin- 
ue with  more  code.  On  other 
machines,  we  must  deal  with 
the  chain  effect. 

When  a  program  brings 
something  into  memory  using 
LOAD,  a  curious  thing  hap- 
pens. The  program  returns  to 
its  first  statement  because  the 
computer  anticipates  a 
chain,  a  program  destroying  it- 
self by  loading  in  a  fresh  pro- 
gram over  its  own  memory 
space. 

It's  fun  to  work  with  BASIC 
chaining,  getting  one  pro- 
gram to  do  some  work,  then 
calling  in  another  program  to 
continue  the  job.  That's  not 
our  task  here.  But  before  we 
pick  up  our  HI. ML  job,  here's 
a  tip  for  those  who  would  like 
to  play  with  BASIC  chaining: 
Programs  loaded  by  chaining 


must  be  no  bigger  than  the 
first  program  of  the  chain. 

Back  to  our  task.  We  wish 
to  load  the  machine  language 
program  into  memory,  but 
this  loading  action  will  cause 
our  program  to  go  back  to  its 
first  statement.  That's  almost 
the  same  as  the  program  start- 
ing over,  except  that  now  the 
program's  variables  couid  con- 
tain values.  You  might  think 
that  the  program  must  end  up 
caught  in  a  loop.  First,  it  will 
load,  then  it  will  go  back  and 
load,  and  so  on.  But  there's  a 
way  around  this  problem. 

When  a  program  goes 
back  to  its  first  statement  after 
performing  LOAD,  it  doesn't 
lose  its  variable  values.  Sup- 
pose the  first  program  state- 
ment is  IF  X=1  GOTO.  When 
the  program  starts,  all  varia- 
bles, X  included,  are  0.  So  we 
won't  take  the  GOTO  branch. 
As  our  program  continues, 
we  may  now  set  X=1  and 
then  LOAD.  The  program  will 
return  to  its  first  statement, 
but  this  time  it  will  take  the 
GOTO  and  then  proceed. 

The  following  code  uses 
ON  X  instead  of  if  X=1,  but 
the  principle  is  the  same. 
When  we  start,  the  program 
proceeds  to  lines  110  and 
120  and  executes  the  LOAD 
command.  The  program  nev- 
er reaches  line  130;  instead,  it 
returns  to  its  first  statement. 
This  time,  X  has  a  value  of  1, 
so  the  program  immediately 
leaps  to  line  200. 

Here's  the  tiny  program. 
Don't  forget  to  use  the  com- 
mand NEW  before  entering  it. 

100  ON  X  GOTO  200 

110  X=1 

120  LOAD  "HI. ML", 8,1 

130  STOP 

200  PRINT  "ML  NOW 

LOADED" 
210  SYS  8192 
220  END 

Can  you  see  why  the  program 
never  reaches  line  130?       □ 


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DIVERSIONS 


Fred  D'Ignazio 


When  your  Gomiiuter 

starts  to  talk 

with  the  voice  of  your 

favorite  movie 

star,  will  you  be  cast 

in  merely  a 

supporting  role? 


HELLO,  TOON 
TOWN! 

When  1  began  writing  for  COM- 
PUTE 11  years  ago,  I  wrote  a 
series  of  articles  about  a  "com- 
puter friend"  program  that  par- 
ents could  load  into  the  com- 
puter for  their  children,  The 
computer  friend  was  a  user- 
friendly  interface  for  young  chil- 
dren that  would  take  their  or- 
ders, play  games,  and  ad- 
dress the  children  by  name. 

At  the  time,  having  a  friend 
who  lived  inside  a  computer 
seemed  like  something  out  of 
science  fiction.  Today,  howev- 
er, this  vision  may  be  close  to 
reality.  The  Qualix  Group  in 
San  Mateo,  California,  has  a 
program  called  Saylt  that  fea- 
tures a  little  onscreen  charac- 
ter named  Simon.  Simon  can 
actually  hear  and  understand 
you.  This  is  accomplished 
through  a  sound  card  and  the 
Saylt  program's  voice-recogni- 
tion functions. 

When  the  program  is  first 
loaded  into  the  computer,  Si- 
mon pops  onto  the  screen  in 
ready  mode.  Once  you  attach 
a  microphone  and  activate 
him,  he  puts  his  hand  to  his 
ear  and  announces  that  he's 
listening  for  your  first  voice 
command.  If  he  understands 
your  command,  he  gives  you 
the  thumbs-up  sign.  If  he  can't 
understand  your  command, 
he  scratches  his  head  to 
show  you  that  he's  confused. 
If  you  don't  want  him  eaves- 
dropping on  your  regular  con- 
versations, you  issue  the 
voice  command,  "Cover  your 
earsl"  and  he  puts  his  fingers 
in  his  ears  to  show  you  that 
he's  not  listening. 

Voice-recognition  pro- 
grams aren't  new.  What  is  new 
is  personalizing  the  program 
with  a  computer  friend  like  Si- 
mon. Even  more  important, 
the  newest  programs  have  far 
greater  power  than  their  older 
counterparts,  and  they  run  on 


standard  computers.  Simon, 
for  example,  runs  only  on  Sun 
Workstations,  but  he  costs  on- 
ly $295  and  can  be  trained  to 
recognize  more  than  a  thou- 
sand words. 

Two  other  programs,  IBM's 
VoiceType  Control  for  Win- 
dows and  Microsoft  Windows 
Sound  System  cost  even  less 
($129  and  $289  respectively) 
and  run  on  standard  Windows- 
based  PCs.  A  similar  program. 
Voice  Navigator  SW,  runs  on 
Macintosh  computers  and 
costs  $399,  and  Apple  is 
about  to  introduce  its  highly 
touted  Caspar  voice-recogni- 
tion program,  also  for  the  Mac. 
Except  for  VoiceType  (which 
recognizes  only  64  spoken 
commands),  all  of  the  pro- 
grams recognize  1000  or 
more  spoken  commands. 
While  they're  not  up  to  the 
pace  of  normal  speech,  they 
can  handle  complicated  com- 
mands if  spoken  slowly. 

It's  not  clear  yet  if  all  the  pro- 
grams will  follow  Saylt's  lead 
v/ith  a  cute,  friendly  character 
like  Simon,  but  it  is  clear  that 
these  programs  will  revolution- 
ize the  way  v/e  use  comput- 
ers. And  the  newer  speech- 
recognition  programs  are  cou- 
pled with  high-fidelity  speech 
synthesis  programs  that  let  the 
computer  talk  back. 

One  immediate  application 
of  the  new  speech  technology 
that  is  already  available  to  all 
of  us  (even  those  of  us  without 
PCs)  is  AT&T's  new  talking  tel- 
ephone that  was  introduced 
nationwide  last  summer. 
When  you  dial  O  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  you  no 
longer  get  a  human  operator 
Instead,  you  get  a  computer 
equipped  with  speech  recog- 
nition and  speech  synthesis. 
The  computer  prompts  you  to 
place  your  collect,  person-to- 
person,  or  credit-card  call.  If 
it  can't  understand  you,  how- 
ever, it's  supposed  to  ask  a  hu- 
man operator  to  step  in. 

Theoretically,  this  is  great. 


but  sometimes  things  don't 
work  as  we  would  like.  For  ex- 
ample, last  week  my  14-year- 
old  son  Eric  was  downtown, 
and  he  needed  his  mother  to 
pick  him  up  in  the  car  when  it 
started  to  rain.  He  had  no  mon- 
ey, so  he  dialed  O  to  place  a 
collect  call  to  our  home.  When 
my  wife  answered  the  phone, 
she  heard  Eric  identifying  him- 
self to  the  computer  operator. 
"Eric  D'Ignazio,"  he  said. 

"I  don't  understand  you," 
said  the  computerized  voice. 
"Please  repeat." 

"E-ric  D'Ig-nay-zee-oh," 
Eric  repeated,  enunciating 
slowly  and  clearly 

"I  don't  understand  you," 
the  computer  said.  And  it 
hung  up! 

Eric  has  spent  14  years  in 
the  company  of  a  mad  hacker 
father,  so  he's  learned  to  be  tol- 
erant of  computers.  He  prompt- 
ly redialed  and  tried  his  luck 
again.  Still  no  luck.  He  tried 
again.  No  luck.  Finally,  Eric 
gave  up  and  walked  home  in 
the  cold,  pouring  rain. 

When  he  arrived  home,  drip- 
ping wet  and  sneezing,  he 
and  his  mother  vowed  that  the 
next  time  this  happened,  they 
would  rip  the  offending  pay 
phone  from  the  wall  and  deliv- 
er it  personally  to  the  local  tel- 
ephone company  executives 
who  have  replaced  human  op- 
erators with  brain-damaged 
computers  who  can't  under- 
stand English! 

Unfortunately,  even  the 
phone  company's  advanced 
voice-recognition  systems  are 
far  from  perfect,  If  you  have  a 
stuffy  nose  or  a  frog  in  your 
throat,  it's  less  likely  that  the 
computer  will  understand 
your  spoken  commands.  Also, 
background  noise  can  mix 
with  your  voice  and  confuse 
the  computer.  So  it  seems 
that  even  though  we  are  stuck 
with  computer  operators,  it 
may  still  be  some  time  before 
they  can  even  remotely  be  clas- 
sified as  computer  friends, 


G-20        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


But  the  real  frontiers  in  human-com- 
puter relations  still  lie  ahead.  Imagine 
a  whole  office  full  of  talking,  listening 
computers.  If  the  experts  are  right  and 
the  keyboard  really  is  a  dinosaur,  then 
in  the  future  we'll  all  be  communicating 
with  our  computers  via  voice.  We'll 
give  a  verbal  order  to  our  computers, 
and  they  will  respond  with  a  verbal  re- 
ply. If  only  one  or  two  workers  in  the  of- 
fice are  carrying  on  conversations  with 
their  computers,  then  it's  little  more 
than  a  nuisance  or  curiosity  to  the  other 
workers.  But  can  you  imagine  five,  ten, 
or  twenty  people  firing  off  voice  com- 
mands to  their  computers  and  their  com- 
puters answering  back?  Remember, 
too,  that  most  people  tend  to  talk  to  a 
computer  in  a  loud  voice  in  order  to 
make  sure  that  the  computer  under- 
stands. They  also  speak  to  the  comput- 
er slowly  and  clearly  as  if  the  computer 
were  a  not-so-bright  servant  or  pet. 

The  result  is  obvious:  computer  ca- 
cophony. But  that's  not  the  worst  of  it. 
With  voice-sensitive  computers  sitting 
on  everyone's  desktop,  it's  likely  that  a 
command  intended  for  one  computer 
will  mistakenly  be  obeyed  by  another 
computer.  Having  an  office  full  of  eaves- 
dropping computers  could  lead  to  ca- 
tastrophe if  someone  orders  one  comput- 
er to  delete  a  file  or  format  a  disk.  It 
could  also  lead  to  office-wide  insanity 
if  a  number  of  commands  are  picked  up 
by  other  people's  computers  and  they 
start  dialing  telephones,  changing  ther- 
mostats, turning  off  lights,  printing  docu- 
ments, and  playing  music  files  and 
voice  mail. 

We  may  have  to  adopt  radical  meth- 
ods to  curb  this  computer  eavesdrop- 
ping and  cacophony.  One  solution  is  to 
make  computer  microphones  highly  di- 
rectional and  ultrasensitive.  This  would 
permit  us  to  become  highly  intimate 
with  our  computers.  We  could  lean  over 
them  confidentially  and  whisper  sweet 
commands  into  their  tiny  little  ears.  An- 
other solution  would  be  for  us  to  stag- 
ger our  working  hours  so  that  we  could 
come  into  the  office  late  at  odd  hours 
to  have  our  serious  human-to-comput- 
er conversations. 

This  is  only  the  tip  of  the  iceberg. 
When  talking  and  listening  computers 
really  invade  our  offices,  we'll  generate 
enough  materials  to  keep  psycholo- 
gists, sociologists,  and  comedians  hap- 


py for  years.  Since  most  computers  are 
going  portable,  this  new  human-ma- 
chine relationship  will  not  be  confined 
to  the  office. 

Our  little  chatty  computers  will  soon 
go  under  our  arms  to  libraries,  onto  air- 
planes, and  into  classrooms  and  auditori- 
ums. And  judging  from  the  new  gener- 
ation of  talking  screen  savers  and  soft- 
ware that  licenses  the  voices  of  famous 
celebrities  and  personalities,  we'll 
soon  be  inundated  with  a  symphony  of 
little  voices  that  sound  like  Ronald  Re- 
agan, Clint  Eastwood,  Scotty  on  the 
Starship  Enterprise,  and  Rod  Serling  on 
"The  Twilight  Zone." 

We'll  want  to  personalize  our  comput- 
ers and  turn  them  into  cute  little  pets. 
We'll  want  our  computers  to  speak  to  us 
in  the  voice  of  our  favorite  rock  musi- 
cian, politician,  or  soap  opera  star  The 
cumulative  effect  will  be  an  intense  feel- 
ing of  vertigo,  as  if  we  had  fallen  into  a 
Roger  Rabbit  cartoon  and  were  sur- 
rounded by  animated  characters  and 
disembodied  voices.  The  result  will  be 
that  the  real  world,  already  disorienting 
and  absurd,  may  soon  come  to  resem- 
ble a  kind  of  cybernetic  Toon  Town. 
And  we'll  be  wondering  if  we're  just  one 
of  the  players.  □ 


ATTENTION 
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WE  WANT  TO  HEAR  FROM  YOU! 

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date  list  of  all  Commodore  64/128  us- 
er groups  across  the  U.S.,  through- 
out Canada,  and  around  the  world. 
We  are  now  in  the  process  to  updat- 
ing this  information.  If  your  user 
group  has  not  appeared  in  any  of 
our  previous  lists  and  you'd  like  to 
be  included,  please  send  your  club 
name,  address,  and  bulletin  board 
service  telephone  number  to  the  fol- 
lowing address. 

Commodore  64/128 

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SEPTEMBER  1993    COI^PUTE        G-21 


BEGINNER  BASIC 


Larry  Cotton 


As  the  raw  material 

that  a  computer 

processes,  data  can  be 

either  pari  of 

the  program  or  entered 

by  the  u^r. 


READING  DATA 

Data  is  one  of  the  more  com- 
mon words  in  computer  lingo, 
ranl<ing  right  up  there  with  the 
words  bytes  and  RAM.  Data  is 
what  the  computer  uses  to 
solve  problems,  create  imag- 
es, make  music,  or  write  let- 
ters, Data  consists  of  words 
that  are  processed,  numbers 
that  are  crunched,  and  points 
to  which  lines  are  connected. 
Data  can  be  processed 
once  it's  in  the  computer,  but 
how  does  it  get  there?  The  an- 
swer to  that  question  depends 
on  the  programmer  and  on 
how  the  program  is  construct- 
ed. Data  is  often  written  into 
the  program  itself,  in  which 
case  the  BASIC  keywords 
READ  and  DATA  are  neces- 
sary to  process  it.  Here's  a  sim- 
ple example. 

10  READ  A,B 
20  PRINT  A+B 
30  DATA  4,5 


a-22 


This  program  reads  two  piec- 
es of  data  in  line  30  v/hich  the 
programmer  has  included  as 
part  of  the  program.  It  then 
adds  the  two  data  items  and 
prints  the  sum.  The  syntax  of 
READ  and  DATA  statements 
is  very  important.  Make  sure 
that  the  variable  names  (such 
as  A  and  B)  and  the  data  it- 
self are  separated  by  com- 
mas, not  periods  or  spaces. 

When  the  computer  encoun- 
ters the  command  READ,  it  im- 
mediately looks  for  variable  val- 
ues to  read.  In  this  case, 
since  A  and  B  are  numeric  var- 
iabies  (as  opposed  to  varia- 
bles which  represent  words), 
the  computer  looks  for  two 
numbers  to  read  in  a  DATA 
line.  If  more  than  two  num- 
bers are  in  the  DATA  line,  the 
above  program  wili  read  only 
the  first  two.  If  the  DATA  line 
contains  less  than  two  num- 
bers, the  program  will  stop 
with  an  OUT-OF-DATA  error 
message. 

COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


To  get  the  computer  to  han- 
dle words  (known  as  literal  or 
string  data),  we  have  to  make 
a  few  changes. 

10READ  A$,B$ 

2D  PRINT  AS+"  "+BS 

30  DATA  BILL.CLINTON 

The  dollar  sign  denotes  a 
string  variable.  A$  (pro- 
nounced A  string)  and  BS  are 
treated  literally.  So,  if  the  da- 
ta were  numbers,  as  string  vari- 
ables, A$  and  B$  can't  be 
mathematicaily  manipulated 
(such  as  added  or  divided.) 

Of  course,  you  can  do 
many  other  things  with  data. 
Here's  an  example  using 
mixed  data  types. 

10  READ  A$,B$,A,B 

20  PRINT  AS"  IS"A"AND  "B$ 

"IS'B 
30  DATA  BQNNIE.CLYDE, 40,42 

The  variables  and  the  data 
must  have  matching  formats 
and  be  in  the  proper  order. 
V(/hile  a  string  variable  can 
read  a  number,  a  numeric  var- 
iable can't  read  a  stnng. 

Arrays — the  pigeonholes  I 
mentioned  last  month — can 
be  filled  with  data  as  follov/s. 

10FORT=1  TO  8 

ZO  READ  A(T) 

30  PRINT  A(T) 

40  NEXT 

50  DATA  11,6,4,12,30,5,214,67 

This  example  uses  a  FOR- 
NEXT  loop  to  fill  an  array  with 
data,  a  very  useful  technique 
for  manipulating  lots  of  informa- 
tion. A(1)  will  become  11, 
A{2)  will  become  6,  and  so 
on.  Can  you  begin  to  see  the 
implications  for  using  arrays 
to  store  data? 

Incidentally,  if  your  array 
has  more  than  ten  entries, 
you  must  add  a  DIM  state- 
ment at  the  beginning  of  the 
program.  This  statement  sets 
aside  space  within  the  comput- 
er's memory  to  store  the  data, 


10  DIM  N$(15) 

20  FOR  J=1  TO  15 

30  READ  NS(J) 

40  NEXT 

50  DATA  TOIVI,DICK,HARRY, 
JANE,SUE,BRENDA,SUZANNE, 
JIM,MARTIN,LOUISE,TERRY 

60  DATA  MADONNA,FLOPSY, 
MOPSY,COnONTAIL 

Again,  make  sure  that  the  num- 
ber of  DATA  items  matches 
the  size  of  your  array.  In  this 
example,  we've  only  filled  the 
array;  we  haven't  done  any- 
thing with  it.  N$(3)  will  be  HAR- 
RY, N$(12)  will  be  MADON- 
NA, and  so  on. 

What  you  do  with  data  is 
up  to  you.  You  can  print  it, 
write  a  story  with  it,  multiply  it, 
draw  v/ith  it,  list  it,  catalog  it, 
and  so  on.  But  what  if  your  da- 
ta is  changeable? 

Suppose  a  class  never  has 
the  same  15  students  in  it? 
You  need  to  get  information 
from  the  person  who's  using 
the  program  with  the  ubiqui- 
tous INPUT  statement.  We've 
reviewed  INPUT  recently,  so  I 
won't  dwell  on  it  now.  Here's 
a  simple  example. 

5  PRINT"[CLR][DOWN]PRESS 
RETURN  AFTER  EACH  ENTRY." 

10  PR)NT:INPUT  "HOW  MANY 
CLASS  MEMBERS";IV! 

20J=1:DIMN$(IVI):PRINT 

30  INPUr'CLASS  MEMBER 
NAIVIE";CMS 

40  N$(J)=CMS 

50  IF  J=M  THEN  80 

60  IF  CM$="  "  THEN  80 

70  J=J+1:PRINT:G0TO  30 

80  PRINT  CHRS(147) 

90  PRINT:PRINT"THE  CLASS 
MEMBERS  ARE'iPRJNT 

100  FOR  T=1  TO  J:PRINT 
NS(T):NEXT 

INPUT  waits  patiently  until  the 
person  at  the  keyboard  types 
something  and  presses  the  Re- 
turn key.  The  data  is  stored  in 
the  N${M)  array- 
Next  month,  we'll  look  at 
ways  to  save  your  precious  da- 
ta for  future  use!  □ 


GEOS 


Steve  Vander  Ark 


BEEP!  BEEP! 

There's  been  a  lot  ot  noise  com- 
ing from  ttie  IBM  crowd  lately. 
Most  of  it  fias  to  do  with  that 
GEOS  clone  that  they  call  Win- 
dows. The  latest  pastime  for 
Windows  aficionados  is  to 
load  sound  bites  that  are  then 
keyed  to  various  system 
events. 

Whenever  you  click  on  a  but- 
ton, Windows  cranks  out  that 
digitized  bit  of  sound  that 
you've  selected.  For  example, 
you  might  have  the  Roadrun- 
ner  cartoon  character  utter  his 
famous  "Beep!  Beep!"  every 
time  you  close  a  window. 
These  sound  files  are  a  lot  of 
fun,  and  there  are  scads  of 
them  to  be  found  on  various 
bulletin  boards  and  on  commer- 
cial services  such  as  GEnie 
and  CompuServe, 

Of  course,  the  64  was  do- 
irig  sound  long  before  these 
IBM  wonders  were  even 
born — and  doing  it  better 
than  anyone.  Back  when  the 
IBM  could  barely  beep,  the  64 
was  gracing  its  games  with 
three-voice  sound  produced 
by  that  amazing  bit  of  electron- 
ics, the  SID  chip.  With  a  few 
PEEKS  and  POKEs,  any  BA- 
SIC programmer  could  create 
sound  and  music. 

It  wasn't  long  before  pro- 
grams like  Music  Construction 
Set  put  the  ability  to  create  mu- 
sic within  anyone's  reach. 
When  the  128  came  along,  its 
enhanced  BASIC  commands 
made  programming  simple. 
Six  voices  and  stereo  capabil- 
ities became  possible  when 
the  SID  Symphony  cartridge 
(available  now  from  Creative  Mi- 
cro Designs)  added  an  extra 
SID  chip  to  the  Commodore 
system. 

1  realize  that  there's  a  differ- 
ence between  Commodore's 
multivoice  music  and  Win- 
dows' digitized  sounds,  but 
the  64  is  capabie  of  playing  dig- 
itized sounds,  too.  Its  only  lim- 
itation is  memory,  since  digit- 


ized sound  eats  kilobytes 
about  as  fast  as  my  daughter 
gobbles  potato  chips. 

The  premier  program  for  im- 
porting and  playing  digitized 
sound  files  is  DigiPlayer  by 
Mark  Dickenson.  It's  available 
on  QuantumLink  as  share- 
ware. (To  help  you  downioad 
it  more  easily,  its  filename  is 
DIGIPLAYER31,SDA.  and  it 
was  uploaded  by  Mark  AD  I.) 

OK,  what's  all  this  have  to 
do  with  GEOS?  There  are  a 
couple  of  programs  on  0-Link 
that  will  let  you  Import  sound 
files  converted  with  DigiPlayer 
into  a  format  that  GEOS  can 
use.  Since  DigiPlayer  files  use 
the  file  extension  RAW,  I'll  call 
them  RAW  files.  One  GEOS 
program  which  actually  plays 
them  is  an  auto-exec  file 
called  AUTORAW,  (Filename: 
AUTORAW,  uploaded  by 
WillJ14.)  Auto-exec  files  run  au- 
tomatically when  you  boot 
your  system. 

Let  me  give  you  an  exam- 
ple of  how  you  can  put  this 
technique  to  use.  In  the 
GEOS  message  area  on  0- 
Link,  several  users  report  that 
they  use  geoRAW  to  signal 
when  their  system  has  fin- 
ished booting.  Many  people 
use  auto-exec  files  such  as 
QwikStash  to  load  a  RAM  de- 
vice automatically  during  the 
boot  process.  This  is  conven- 
ient, but  time  consuming.  So, 
rather  than  just  sitting  and  star- 
ing at  the  screen,  let  digitized 
sounds  or  voice  clips  inform 
you  when  everything  is  load- 
ed. One  popular  sound  file  to 
use  for  this  is  the  voice  of  the 
HAL  9000  computer  from 
2001:  A  Space  Odyssey. 
When  you  hear  HAL's  voice, 
you  know  that  your  system  is 
up  and  waiting  for  you. 

You  can  also  use  a  pro- 
gram called  Raw  (Q-Link  file- 
name: RAW  VI.  1,  uploaded 
by  Denton2)  to  play  all  of  your 
RAW  files  sequentially  Unfor- 
tunately, this  utility  was  upload- 
ed in  an  unfinished  form.  It 


plays  the  sound  files  all  right, 
but  it  includes  no  slick  inter- 
face screens,  no  file  selector 
box  to  pick  a  file  to  play  and 
not  even  a  real  icon,  but  at 
least  it  gives  us  digitized 
sound. 

Digitized  sound  is  great, 
but  let's  not  forget  all  those 
wonderful  music  files  out 
there.  These  files,  usually  re- 
ferred to  as  SID  files,  often  car- 
ry the  file  extension  MUS. 
Some  files  even  include 
words  and  artwork.  Stereo  SID 
files  which  utilize  the  extra  SID 
chip  are  also  plentiful. 

You  can  play  all  those  won- 
derful three-voice  SIDs  using 
geoSIDPIayer,  This  neat  utility 
lets  you  choose  SID  music 
files  from  a  standard  file  selec- 
tor dialog  box.  It  then  plays  a 
file  for  you  while  a  little  guy  on 
the  screen  taps  his  foot  and 
grins.  GeoSIDPIayer  is  avail- 
able in  the  Q-Link  GEOS  librar- 
ies. Its  filename  is  GEO- 
SIDPLAYER,  and  it  was  upload- 
ed by  RogerLU.  Unfortunately, 
there  is  no  stereo  player  for 
GEOS,  but  since  most  GEOS 
users  have  their  cartridge  port 
already  filled  with  a  RAM  de- 
vice of  some  kind,  they 
wouldn't  have  room  for  a  mu- 
sic cartridge  anyway 

All  these  programs  work 
fine,  but  I  would  love  to  see 
some  more  work  done  with 
sound  programs  for  GEOS.  I'd 
like  to  see  the  digitized  sound 
player  cleaned  up  and  given 
a  proper  interface.  I'd  like  a 
SID  player  for  GEOS  that  dis- 
plays the  words  if  a  WRD  file 
is  included.  And  that's  not  all. 
Someone  on  Q-Link  a  few 
weeks  ago  was  talking  about 
programming  a  SID  player 
that  would  play  in  the  back- 
ground so  you  could  listen  to 
your  favorite  tunes  while 
you're  pounding  the  keys  in 
geoWrite  or  mouse-hopping  in 
geoPublish,  Now  that  sounds 
like  a  dream  GEOS  progrann 
to  me.  I  think  I'd  call  it 
geoJukebox.  d 


Vdu  know  GEOS  is 
geared  toward 
graphics,  but  have 
you  heard  airaut 
its  outstanding  audio 
capaliiiities? 


SEPTEMBER  1993     COMPUTE        G-23 


PROGRAMMER'S  PAGE 


Randy  Thompson 


Here  are  some 

readers'  programs 

for  adding 

vectors,  bouncing 

screens,  and 

protecting  programs 


VECTORS, 
BOUNCERS,  AND 
BASIC  SAVERS 

We  have  some  more  great 
tips  from  readers  this  month, 
so  let's  get  to  them. 

Vector  Addition 

This  program  performs  vector 
addition  on  two  vectors  and 
gives  the  resultant  vector's 
magnitude  and  angle.  The 
magnitudes  and  angles  (be- 
tween 0  and  360  degrees)  of 
the  vectors  to  be  added  are 
all  that  you  enter.  This  can  be 
a  useful  little  program  for  phys- 
ics students. 


NILES  NOON  AN 

TINLEYPARK,  IL 

XD 

180 

REM  VECTOR  FINDBF 

PJ 

195 

DIM  M(31  ,A  (3}  ;QS«"Y" 

J» 

110 

X«3:Y-fl 

AC 

12S 

DEF  FN  H(X)-|inT(X«100B 
+.5)1/1000 

KQ 

13e 

FOR  I-l  TO  2 

OA 

148 

PRINT 

Aft 

153 

PRINT  "MAGNITUDE  OF  VEC 
TOR";l; 

MJ 

160 

IMPOT  M[I) 

DQ 

17e 

PRINT  "ANGLE  OF  VECTOR" 

SF 

IBO 

r  1  1 

INPUT  A(!) 

BH 

198 

Ad)  -Ad)  '^/IBB 

GK 

200 

!fM(l}*SIN(fl(I)  1  +Y 

HF 

2ia 

X=M(I|'C0S1A(1)1+X 

QD 

229 

NEXT  I 

XR 

230 

M|3) =FN  R(SQR(X*X+Y*y) ) 

DP 

240 

A13)-FN  R( 1ATN(Y/X) )«18 
0/1) 

EA 

250 

IF  X<0  THEN  A{3|.A(3)+1 
80 

DR 

260 

IF  A(3)<0  THEN  A(3)-A(3 
)  t360 

PC 

270 

IF  Mf3)-0  THEN  R(3)=0 

HK 

280 

PRIMT 

AK 

290 

PRINT  "MAGNITUDE  OF  RES 
ULTANT  VECTOR  =";M(3) 

SK 

300 

PRINT  "ANGLE  OF  RESULTA 
NT  VECTOR  ■";AI3! 

GM 

310 

PRINT 

AA 

320 

PRINT  "FIGURE  ANOTHER"; 

BC 

330 

INPUT  OS 

liM 

340 

IF  QS-"i("  THEN  lia 

Screen  Bouncer 

Using  a  technique  known  as 
flexible  line  distance,  the  fol- 
lowing program  smoothly 
"bounces"  the  64's  screen 
down  and  up.  Be  sure  to  re- 
move all  cartridges  from  your 
computer  before  you  run  the 
program.  After  you  load  and 
run  the  program,  type  SYS 
4915210  set  your  screen  in 
motion.  Press  Run/Stop-Re- 


store to  return  your  computer 
to  a  more  stable  state. 

SE  5  D=9fl 

KC  10  READ  A:IFA=-lTHEN4a 

PK  20  IFA>256THEN5(1 

CF  30  B=BtA:POKE49152+C,A:C-C+ 

l:GOTO10 
MA    40    PRINT    "ALL    DONE]     [RVS)SV 
S    49152(OFF}    TO    INSTALL. 
":POKE163e3,170;END 
RP    50    D=D  +  10:IFB-ATHEKB=ia:GOTO 

10 
JD    60    PHINT"SCLR)lfOU    TYPED    LIN 
E"D"IN    WRONG.     RECHECK    AN 
D(RVS)RUN[OFF)    AGAINI" 
CK    70    PRINT    "[2    DOKN]lIST"D" 
(3    UP1":POKE631,13:POKE 
(SPACEU98,1 
AF    100    DATA    169,147,32,210,255 
, 129,162,1,142,26,208,2 
02,142,32,208,2056 
KG    110    DATA    169,49,141,18,203, 
169, 127, 141, 13, 220, 169, 
27,141,17,208,169,1985 
SK    120    DATA    42,162,192,141,20, 
3,142,21,3,88,96,238,25 
,208, 238, 112,192,1923 
XK    130    DATA    173,112,192,16,11, 
41,127,141,111,192,159, 
128,56,237,111,192,170, 
2179 
XE    140    DATA    208,2,162,1,172,13 
,208,152,56,233,2,41,7, 
9, 16,141, 17,1445 
HC    150    DATA    20B , 204 , IB , 2B8 , 240 
, 251,  201),  20  2,  2na,  236,  17 
3,18,208,206,251,169,27 
,3029 
AJ    160    DATA    141,17,208,173,13, 
220,75,49,234,0,0,0,1,1 
132,-1 


The  secret  to  smoothly  mov- 
ing the  64's  screen  down  and 
up  is  simple  yet  ingenious. 
This  program  installs  a  verti- 
cal-blanl<  interrupt  that  tempo- 
rarily keeps  the  computer's 
VIC  chip  (the  chip  responsi- 
ble for  the  64's  video  display) 
so  busy  that  It  won't  have 
time  to  send  any  video  informa- 
tion to  your  monitor,  The  long- 
er the  program  occupies  the 
VIC  chip's  time,  the  longer 
the  screen's  video  output  is  de- 
layed, and  the  lower  the 
screen's  graphics  appear  on 
your  television  or  monitor.  To 
get  rid  of  the  streaks  the  pro- 
gram leaves  in  the  empty  are- 
as at  the  top  of  the  screen, 
type  POKE  16838,0  while  the 
program  is  running. 

BOB  BRODERICK 
SAN  RAMON.  CA 

Easy  Program  Protection 

If  you  want  to  read-protect 
your  BASIC  programs  (make 
them  unloadable  by  BASIC), 


Richard  Reano  of  San  Diego, 
California,  has  two  sugges- 
tions: Save  your  programs  as 
sequential  files,  or,  better  yet, 
save  them  as  user  files. 

When  using  the  SAVE  com- 
mand, add  a  comma  and  the 
letter  S  after  the  filename  to 
save  a  program  as  a  sequen- 
tial file,  or  add  a  comma  and 
the  letter  Uto  save  It  as  a  us- 
er file. 

SAVE  "Wen3me,S",8 

SAVE"f//ename,U",8 

Now,  when  you  list  the  disk  di- 
rectory, you'll  find  that  your 
PRG  file  has  become  a  SEQ 
or  USR  file.  And  if  you  try  to 
load  the  file,  BASIC  responds 
with  a  FILE  TYPE  MISMATCH 
error  message. 

Actually,  there  is  a  way  to 
load  these  modified  files,  but 
you  have  to  know  the  secret. 
To  load  one  of  these  files,  use 
the  same  ,S  or  ,U  you  used 
when  you  saved  the  program. 
For  example,  to  load  a  BASIC 
program  saved  with  SAVE  "file- 
name.S",8,  use  LOAD  "file- 
name,S".8. 

Taking  It  With  You 

Manning  Vahlenkamp  from  Ma- 
tawan,  New  Jersey,  provides 
this  tip  for  128  owners  who  do 
a  lot  of  BASIC  programming 
in  64  mode.  To  move  from 
128  mode  to  64  mode  without 
losing  the  current  BASIC  pro- 
gram, simply  enter  these  two 
POKEs  after  executing  the 
computer's  GO  64  command. 

POKE  43,1 
POKE  44,28 

These  POKE  statements 
tell  the  64  portion  of  your  com- 
puter that  the  current  BASIC 
program  is  located  in  memo- 
ry starting  al  7169  (SiCOl). 
That's  the  default  location 
where  BASIC  programs  are 
stored  when  your  computer  is 
in  128  mode.  D 


G-24        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


PROGRAMS 


DATABASE 


By  Todd  Piltingsrud 

With  DataBase  you  can  store  practically 
any  type  of  information  to  disk  and  then 
retrieve  or  edit  it  as  you  like.  DataBase 
has  a  powerful  screen  editor  that  oper- 
ates like  a  conventional  word  processor, 
so  it  can  be  used  for  a  variety  of  tasks. 

DataBase  consists  of  a  BASIC  pro- 
gram and  a  short  machine  language  rou- 
tine. To  enter  the  BASIC  program,  use 
The  Automatic  Proofreader  to  help  avoid 
typing  errors.  Look  for  Proofreader  else- 
where in  this  section.  Be  sure  to  save  a 
copy  of  the  program  before  you  run  it. 

Enter  the  machine  language  routine 
with  MLX,  our  machine  language  entry 
program,  which  can  be  found  elsewhere 
in  this  section.  When  MLX  prompts,  reply 
with  the  following  addresses. 

Starting  address:  GOOD 
Ending  address:  C397 

Be  sure  to  save  this  program  with  the 
filename  DATA. ML  to  the  same  disk 
that  contains  the  BASIC  portion.  The  BA- 
SIC program  automatically  searches 
for  and  loads  that  filename. 

Using  the  Program 

After  loading  and  running  DataBase, 
use  the  cursor  keys  and  the  Return  key 
to  move  around  on  the  menu  screen 
and  select  the  various  options.  The 
first  time  you  run  the  program,  you'll 
probably  want  to  create  an  entry.  Cur- 
sor to  this  option  and  press  Return. 

Note  the  difference  between  an  en- 
try and  a  file  on  the  menu.  A  file  is 
made  up  of  several  entries.  For  exam- 
ple, you  could  have  numerous  entries 
listing  the  names,  addresses,  and  tele- 
phone numbers  of  your  friends.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  these  entries  could  then  be 
saved  as  a  file,  perhaps  with  the  file- 
name FRIENDS. 

When  you  create  an  entry,  the 
screen  clears,  and  the  program  goes 
to  input  mode.  DataBase  doesn't  ask 
for  a  title  for  an  entry.  Instead,  the  first 
line  of  each  entry  acts  as  its  title,  but 
this  line  is  still  seen  as  part  of  the  en- 
try. Once  you  have  entered  the  informa- 
tion you  wish,  press  f7  to  return  to  the 
menu.  If  you  wish  to  create  additional 
entries  at  this  time,  simply  press  Return 
with  the  cursor  on  the  Create  Entry  op- 


tion. After  typing  in  several  entries,  you 
can  press  f1  or  f3  to  move  up  and 
down  through  the  entries  in  the  file. 

After  you  have  entered  several  en- 
tries, you  can  then  save  them  under 
one  filename.  To  do  this,  select  the 
Save  File  option  from  the  menu.  You'll 
then  be  asked  for  a  filename,  Suppose 
we  used  FRIENDS  as  suggested  earli- 
er. This  sequential  file  will  then  be 
saved  to  disk  with  all  of  the  information 
entered  so  far. 

From  the  DataBase  menu,  you  can 
load  a  file  back  into  memory,  see  a 
disk  directory,  scratch  files,  print  files, 
and  list  or  print  all  of  the  entries  in  a 
file.  You  can  also  recall,  erase,  or  print 
individual  entries  within  a  larger  file. 

Once  you  have  loaded  a  file  and 
you  want  to  recall  a  specific  entry,  se- 
lect the  Recall  Entry  option.  You'll  be 
asked  for  a  name.  Suppose  you  want 
the  entry  that  contains  Jack  Johnson's 
information,  simply  type  J  or  JACK.  If 
you  have  several  friends  in  the  file 
whose  names  are  Jack,  simply  enter 
the  full  name  of  the  entry  you  want. 

Entries  are  alphabetized  by  the  first 
word  on  the  line.  Should  you  wish  to 
add  a  new  name  to  your  FRIENDS  file, 
load  the  file  and  select  the  Create  En- 
try option  to  add  new  information.  Just 
remember  to  save  the  file  again  when 
you  have  finished  editing.  You  can  use 
the  same  filename  since  DataBase 
lets  you  overwrite  the  old  file. 

Defaults 

DataBase  is  set  to  handle  up  to  60  en- 
tries and  20  lines  per  entry.  This  de- 
fault can  be  changed  if  you  desire. 
Load  DataBase,  but  before  running  it, 
list  line  10.  Notice  that  W  equals  the 
number  of  entries  and  H  equals  the 
number  of  lines  per  entry.  By  changing 
these  values,  you  can  decrease  or  in- 
crease the  size  of  DataBase's  memory 
However,  W  can  be  no  more  than  255. 
A  warning  is  also  in  order  here.  The 
64's  memory  has  limits.  Putting  in  num- 
bers that  are  too  high  can  lead  to  diffi- 
culties such  as  garbage  collecting. 
This  occurs  when  the  64  has  to  erase 
old  memory  to  make  room  for  new  in- 
formation. In  an  extreme  case,  you 
could  run  out  of  memory.  Due  to  the 
64's  memory  limitations,  a  practical  lim- 
it for  DataBase  should  be  50-100  en- 
tries and  15-20  lines  per  entry  This  as- 


sumes that  you  probably  won't  i 
individual  entry  to  its  limit. 


each 


Printing 

DataBase  is  also  set  so  that  the  device 
number  is  8  and  the  printer  number  is 
4.  These  numbers  can  also  be 
changed  if  you  desire.  Before  running, 
list  line  5.  Here,  D  is  the  device  num- 
ber and  P  is  the  printer  number.  By 
changing  these  numbers,  DataBase 
can  be  made  to  access  other  disk 
drives  and  printers. 

If  changes  are  made  to  these  varia- 
bles, be  sure  to  save  a  copy  of  Data- 
Base to  avoid  having  to  change  them 
each  time  you  load  the  program. 

DATABASE 

BM  0  REM  COPYRIGHT  1993  -COMPU 
TE  PUBLICATIONS  INTL  LTD 
{SPACE}-  ALL  RIGHTS  RESER 
VED 
GS  5  D=8:P=4:REM  DEVICE  AND  PR 

INTER 
SM  10  W=60:H=20:REM  NUMBER  OF 

ESPACE]ENTRIES  AND  NUHBE 

R  OF  LINES  PER  ENTRY 
PX  15  POKE650,128:POKE53265,g: 

POKE53281,6:POKE53  28  0,6 
BJ  20  IFPEEK(49152)  O76THENL0A 

D"DATA.ML",D,1 
EH  25  K=49152:DR=49155:IN=4915 

8:AL=4  9161:EE=4  9164:CM=4 

9167:BF=4  9170:LF=4  9173 
QF  30  J=H+1:DIMAR$(W+1,H+1) ,TS 

(12) 
AX  35  N5="":AR$(l,0)="":X=4:y= 

5:T  =  1 
EC  40  F0RA=1T012:READTS (A) :NEX 

T 
FK  45  POKE198,a:N$="":PRINT" 

{CLR} {D0WN}{CYN|"CHRS(14 

) TAB (15) "DATABASE {DOWN}" 
CQ  50  PRINTTAB(4) " {A>* ** ****** 

*********************  t^\ 

SX  55  F0RA=1T06:PRINTTAB (4) " 

{CYN}-<7}"TS(A)TAB(23)T5 
(A+e)TAB(3S} "{CYN}^":NEX 
T 

JS  60  PRINTTAB(4) "{CYN}{Z}**** 
************************ 

_l;^'tX}":POKE5326  5,27:GOTO 

100 
SJ  65  GETAS:IFAS=""THEN65 
BQ  70  IFA5=CHRS(13)THENPOKE781 

,12:POKE782,0:POKE783,0: 

SYS65520:PRIKT"{7>"; :GOT 

0110 
AB  75  PRINTTAB (Y) "<7}"TS(T) 
KK  80  IFA$  =  "{UP}"AHDX>'1THENX=X 

-1:T=T-1 
BE  85  IFA$="{D0WN}"AHDX<9THENX 

=X+1:T=T+1 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-25 


PROGRAMS 


MM    90    IFAS="{LEFT)"AMDY=23THEN 

Y=5:T=T-6 
MA    95    IFA$="{RIGHT)"ANDy=5THEN 

Y=23:T=T+6 
HK  100  POKE781,X:P0KE782,y:POK 

E78  3,0:SYS65520:PRINTTA 

B (Y) "{WHT}"T$ (T) "{UP)": 

GOTO 6 5 
MP  105  PRINT"{CLB}"; :END 
RR  110  OHTGOTO125,175,565,210, 

620,650,730,760,590,635 

,160,105 
BX  115  GOT065 
EJ  120  REM  LOAD  FILE 
SH  125  NN$="";INPUT"FILENAME"; 

NN$:  IFNN$=""THEN45 
EA  130  SYSCM:OPENl,D,15:OPEN8, 

D,8,NN$+",S,R": INPUT#1, 

A,B$,B,C:IFA<>0THEN710 
QH  135  FORA=1TOW+1:SYSIH: ARS (A 

,0)=AS:IFLEN(A$) =0THEHC 

LOSE1:CLOSE8:GOT045 
KJ    140    F0RB  =  1T0J:SYSIN:AR$  (A,B 

)  =AS:  IFLEN(AS)  =0AtJDST  =  O 

THENNEXTA:GOTOai0 
EE    145    IFST=0THENNEXTB:NEXTA:G 

OTO310 
EQ    150    AR$(A+1,0)="":CLOSE1:CL 

OSEa:GOT045 
SR  155  REM  CLEAR  MEMORY 
SR  160  PRIHT"ARE  YOU  SURE?  Y/N 

":HAIT198,1:IFPEEK(631) 

=89THENRUN 
MC  165  GOT045 
BH  170  REM  RECALL 
PS  175  INPUT"NAME";bJ$:IFNS=""T 

HEN45 
DM  180  IFRrGHT$CNS,l)="*"THENN 

S=LEFT$(NS,LEN(H$) -1) 
PE    185    FORA=1TOW:IFAR${A,0) ="" 

THENN$="":GOTO803 
GC    190    IFLEFT5 (ARS (A,0) ,LEH(N$ 

) ) <>N$THENNEXT : GOTO800 
BQ    195    PRINT"{CLR)"ARS(A,0) ; :F 

0RB=1T0H : TFB<25THENPRIN 

TCHRS (13)AR$ (A,B) ; : NEXT 
DA    200    G0TO215 
FH    205    REM    CREATE    ENTRY 
PE    210    PRINT"{CLR}"; :FORA=1TOW 

:  IFARS  (A,0}  <>""THENfJEXT 

:GOTO810:REH  FIND  END  0 

F  FILE 
EM  215  PRINT"(HOME}";:B=0:SX=0 
CS  220  SYSK:GOSUB485 
DR  225  ONPEEK(2)GOT0235,513,26 

5,285,310,325,335,350,4 

09,285,445,465,470,510 
HG    230    REM    LEFT 
SJ    235    IFCXO0THEN513 
BR    240     IFB=OTHEN220 
SP    245    GOSUB435:SYSLF:ARS (A,B) 

=  NS 
BK    250    IFB=SXTHENSX=SX-1:B=B-1 

:GOSUB495:PRISTA$AS; iGO 

TO220 
GD  255  B=B-1:GOSUB500:PRINTA5A 

$; :GOTO220 

G-26        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


XH 

260 

HEM  UP 

FC 

425 

FS 

265 

rFB=0THEN220 

GD 

270 

GOSUB485:SYSLF:ARS(A,B) 
=NS;IFB=SXTHENSX=SX~1:B 
=  B-l:GOS!JB495:PRIHTAS;  : 

AX 

430 

GDTO220 

DK 

435 

KC 

275 

B=B-1:GOSUB500:PRINTA5; 

:GOTO220 

XQ 

440 

SX 

280 

REM  DOWN,  SHIFTED  RETUR 

CP 

445 

N 

FP 

450 

SQ 

285 

IFB=HTHEN220 

JF 

455 

BC 

290 

SYSLF!AR$(A,B) =NS:GOSUB 

500 

JF 

460 

PJ 

295 

IFCY=24THENSX=SX+1:B=B+ 

FB 

465 

1:PRINTCHRS(13)ARS(A,B) 

RJ 

470 

;  :GOSrJB500:GOTO220 

AG 

475 

MD 

300 

B=B+1:GOSUB500:PRINTAS; 

:GOTO220 

XE 

480 

HS 

305 

REM  CLR/HOMS  (GO  TO  BOT 

TOM) 

MP 

485 

cx 

310 

SYSLF:ARS (A,B) -N$ : F0RB= 
0TOJ:IFAR$ (A,B+1) <>""TH 

ENNEXT 

XE 

490 

AE 

315 

SX=B;G0SUB4  9S:PRINT" 
{HOME}";:GOTO220 

SG 

495 

RP 

320 

REM  HOME 

SG 

496 

xc 

325 

SYSLF:ARS(A,B)=NS:B=0:S 
X=B:G0SUB495:PRINTA5; :G 

OTO220 

XB 

500 

QH 

330 

REM  INSERT 

QD 

335 

GOSUB485;SYSLF:AR$(A,B) 

=N5:GOSUB500:IFLEN(AR${ 

CG 

505 

A,B) ) =39THEN220 

AP 

510 

EP 

340 

G0T0515 

PC 

345 

REM  DELETE 

QQ 

515 

HH 

353 

FL=1:IFCX<>0THEN510 

XE 

355 

IFB=0THEN220 

FH 

360 

IFB=SXTHENSX=SX-1: PRINT 

EC 

520 

"{DOWN}"; :GOSUB485:GOSy 

JG 

525 

B495 

XB 

530 

DJ 

365 

SYSLF:ARS ( A,B) =NS : I FLEN 

(ARS  (A,C-1)  )«=39THENAR$( 

AJ 

535 

A,B-1)=LEFT5(ARS[A,B-1) 

,33) 

HG 

540 

DJ 

370 

A$=LEFTS(AR$ (A,B) ,39-LE 
N(ARS(A,B-1) ) ) 

RA 

545 

DB 

375 

AR$(A,B)=RIGHT$(AR$(A,B 
) ,LEN(AR$(A,B) )-LEN(AS) 

) 

HE 
DM 

550 
555 

EG 

383 

IFARS (A,B) =""THENFORU=B 

HX 

560 

T0H:ARS(A,U)=AR$(A,U+1) 

AC 

565 

:HEXT 

FE 

385 

B=B-l:CY=CY-l:GOSaB500: 
PRINTARS (A,B) ; :GOSUB485 
:PRINTA$; :SYSLF:ARS (A,B 

HP 

570 

)=N5 

AA 

575 

DQ 

390 

GOSUB495:GOTO220 

AM 

580 

BA 

395 

REM  RETURN 

SD 

585 

KD 
CG 

400 
405 

IFB=HTHEN220 
FL=1:IFAR$(A,H) <>""THEN 

RE 

590 

290 

BX 

595 

AS 

410 

IFCY=24THENSX=SX+1 

FB 

415 

GOSUB485:SYSLF:ARS (A,B) 

QR 

600 

XB 

420 

F0RU=HT0B+1STEP-1:ARS(A 
,U)=ARS(A,U-1) :NEXT:REM 

MJ 

60S 

INSERT 

FG 

610 

B=B+1:GOSUB500:SYSBF:AR 

$(A,B)=NS 

ARS  (A,B-1)=LEFT$(AR5(A, 

B-1) ,LEN (ARS(A,B-1) ) -LE 

N{ARS(A,B))) 

PRINT:GOSUB48  5:GOSUB49  5 

:GOTO220 

REM  Fi 

IFA=1THEN220 

IFFL=0THEN545 

FL  =  0:SYSLF:AR$  (A,B) =N$: 

GOTO530 

REM  F3  AND  F7 

IFARS(A+1,0)=""THEN220 

IFFL=0THEN545 

FL=0:SYSLF: AR$ (A,B)=N$: 

GOTQ530 

REM    SAVE    CURSOR    LOCATIO 

N 

POKE7  8  3,1:SYS65  52  0:CX=P 

EEK(782) :CY=PEEK(781) :R 

ETURN 

REM    REDRAW    SCREEN 

POKE212,0:PRINT"{CLR]"A 

RS(A,SX) ; 

FORU  =  SX  +  lTOSX+24:  IFUOJ 

THENPRINTCHR$ (13) ARS (A, 

U) ; :NEXT 

POKE 78 3,0: POKE 7 32, CX:PO 

KE781,CY:SYS6  55  20; RETUR 

N 

REM  PRINT  TO  SCREEN 

FL=1:IFCX=3  8ANDB=HTHENP 

RINTA$"{LEFT)"; :GOTO220 

PRINTA$; :GOSUB4  85:IFCX= 

39THENSYSLF:AR$ (A,B) =NS 

: PRINT:B=B+1 

GOTO220 

REM  ALPHABETIZE  IT 

B=0iFORU=0TOH: IFAR$ (A,U 

) =""THENNEXT:GOTO540 

NS=ARS (A,U)  :ARS  (A,U) ="" 

:ARS(A,B)=NS:B=B+1:NEXT 

SYSAL 

IFAS="CF1]"ANDA<>1THENA 

=A-l:GOT0195 

IFA$  =  "{F3)"ANDARS  (A4-l,0 

) <>""THENA=A+l:GOT0195 

GOT04  5 

REM  LIST  ENTRIES 

F0RA=1T0W: IFARS {A,0) ="" 

THEN815 

PRINT:FORB=0TOH : IFAR$ (A 

,B) <>""THENPRINTARS (A,B 

) :NEXTB 

IFPEEK(20  3)  0  64TKEN57  5 

NEXTA:GOTOai0 

REM  ERASE  ENTRY 

INPUT '■nahE";nS:  ifns=""t 

HEN45 

IFRIGHTS (NS, 1) ="*"THENN 

$=LEFT5 (N$,LEN (N5) -1) 

F0RA=1T0W+1 : IFARS (A, 0} = 

""THENN5="":GOTO800 

I FLEETS (ARS (A,3) ,LEN(NS 

) ) <>NSTHENNEXT:GOTO800 

ARS (A,0)="":SYSEE:GOTO4 


MG  615  REM  DIRECTORi' 

KF  620  POKE186,D:SYSDS:PRrHT:G 

OT0815 
DJ  625  IFB=OTHEN810 
XK  630  REM  SCRATCH  FILE 
SX  635  INPUT"FILENRME";N5: IFN$ 

=""THEN45 
HM  640  0PENl,D,15,"Sa:"+N$:CL0 

SEl:GOT045 
GG  645  REM  SAVE  FILE 
PQ  650  CI,0SE1:CL0SE8:WNS=""  :  PO 

KE19a,0:REM  NO  REPLACE 
DP  655  IFRIGHT${NN$,1)="*"THEN 

NN$="" 
RM  660  IFNN$=""THENIMPUT"FILBH 

AME";HN$:IFNN$=""THEN45 
GJ  665  OPENl,D,15:OPEN8,D,8,"" 

+NN5+",S,W":ISPUT#1,A,B 

$,B,C 
XP  670  IFA  =  63THF;t)CLOSG8:  PRINT" 

REPLACE  "NHS"?  Y/N":WAI 

T198, 1:IFPEEK(63  1) 0  3  9T 

HEH650 
PJ    675    IFA=63THENOPEM3,D,8,"@0 

: "+NN5+",S,W"; INPUT#1,A 

,B5,B,C 
SP    680    IFAO0THEN710 
JX    685    F0RA-LT0W+l:PRI[JT!t3,AR$ 
(A,0) :IFARS (A,0)=""THEN 

CLOSEl:CLOSE8:GOT0  4  5 
GD    690    F0RB=lT0J:PRINTIi8,  AR5  (A 

,B)  :IFARS  (A,B)  <>""THEN>] 

EXTB 
XX    695    WEXTA 

XH    700    CLOSE1:CLOSE8:GOT045 
MS    705    REM    DRIVE    STATUS 
JP    710    PRINTA;BS;B;C:CL0SE1:CL 

OSE8:GOT0315 
KD    715    REM    QUIT 
KC    720    PRINT"{CLR}" ; :END 
CJ    725    REM    PRINT    FILE 
DG    73(3    PRINT"PRESS    RETURN    TO    C 

ANCEL" 
GX    735    OPEN1,P,7:FORA=1TOW: IFA 

RS (A,0)=""THEN750 
CH     740    PRINT#1:FORB=0TOH: IFAR$ 
(A,B) <>""THEMPRINT#1, AR 

S (A,B> :NEXTB 
JG    74  5    GETA$:IFA5<>CHHSa3JTHE 

NNEXTA 
FD    750    CLOSEl:GOT0815 
XS    755    REM    PRINT    ENTRY 
DM    760    INPUT"NAME";NS:IFNS=""T 

HEN45 
XE    765    IFRIGHTS (N5,1)-"*"THENN 

$=LEFT${H$,LEN(N$)~1) 
DD    770    FORA=1TOW:IFAR$ (A, 0)="" 

THENN$="":GOTO800 
MX    775    IFLEFT$(AR5(A,0)  ,LEN  (NS 

) ) <>NSTHENNEXTA:GOTO800 
EM    783    PRINT"PRESS     RETURN    TO    C 

ANCEL" 
BP    785    0PEN1,P,  7:PRINT*fl:F0RB  = 

0TOH:IFARS (A,B) <>""THEN 

PRINT#l,ARS{A,a) 
JG  790  GETA$:IFA5<>CHR$ (13)THE 


NNEXT 
KE  795  CLOSEl:GOT0815 
FD  B00  PRINT"NOT  FOUND,  ":GOTO 

815 
SF  805  CL0SE1:CL0SE8:PRINT"FIL 

E  NOT  COMPATIBLE,  ":ARS 

(1,0)="";NNS="":GOTO815 
KM  310  PRINT"FULL  FILE,  "; 
HB  315  POI<E198,0:PRINT"{WHT;pR 

ESS  ANY  KEY":WArTl93, 1: 

GOT045 
SQ  820  DATA  LOAD  FILE, RECALL  E 

NTHY,LIST  FILE, CREATE  E 

NTRY, DIRECTORY, SAVE  FIL 

E 
SS  825  DATA  PRINT  FILE, PRINT  E 

NTRY, ERASE  ENTRY, SCRATC 

H  FILE, CLEAR  MEMORY, QUI 

T 


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7D 

Todd  Piltingsrud  is  attending  Concor- 
dia College  in  Moorhead,  Minnesota. 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-27 


PROGRAMS 


BRICK  LAYER 


By  Maurice  Yanney 
You're  the  mason  who  has  to  repair 
holes  in  a  brick  wall.  To  make  matters 
more  interesting,  each  hole  requires  a 
brick  of  a  certain  color.  For  an  additional 
twist,  the  wall  you  have  to  repair  is  mov- 
ing, and  the  bricks  you  need  are  scat- 
tered about  a  maze.  How  many  mazes 
can  you  complete  in  this  arcade-style 
game  for  the  64? 

Typing  It  In 

Brick  Layer  is  written  entirely  in  ma- 
chine language,  but  it  loads  and  runs 
like  a  BASIC  program.  To  type  it  in, 
use  MLX.  our  machine  language  entry 
program,  which  you'll  find  elsewhere  in 
this  section.  When  MLX  prompts,  you  re- 
spond with  the  following  values. 

Starting  address:  0801 
Ending  address:  1990 

Be  sure  to  save  a  copy  of  the  program 
before  exiting  MLX. 

Playing  the  Game 

The  object  of  this  game  is  to  fill  all  of 
the  holes  which  appear  in  the  wall  at 
the  bottom  of  the  screen,  The  holes  are 
filled  by  dropping  in  a  brick  that  has 
the  same  color  as  the  area  around  the 
hole.  Use  a  joystick  in  port  2  to  move 
your  tank  around  the  various  mazes. 

I  didn't  mention  the  tank?  This 
game  has  an  element  of  danger  as 
well.  Press  the  fire  button  to  have  the 
tank  fire  bullets,  pick  up  a  brick,  or 
drop  a  brick. 

When  your  tank  is  directly  over  a  de- 
sired brick,  press  the  fire  button  to 
pick  it  up.  You  can  carry  only  one 
brick  at  a  time.  When  you're  carrying  a 
brick,  press  the  fire  button  again  to 
drop  it  (unless  all  of  the  spaces  current- 
ly under  the  tank  contain  bricks).  If 
your  tank  isn't  carrying  a  brick  and 
there  isn't  one  immediately  beneath  it, 
pressing  the  fire  button  will  shoot  bul- 
lets in  all  directions. 

Obstacles 

You  need  the  bullets  to  make  the 
three  electric  wheelbarrows  drop  their 
bricks.  Each  wheelbarrow  is  a  different 
color,  and  each  moves  about  the 
maze.  The  wheelbarrows  carry  bricks 

G-28        COKAPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


that  are  the  same  color  as  the  wheel- 
barrow. When  a  wheelbarrow  carrying 
a  brick  is  hit  by  a  bullet,  it  drops  a 
brick.  You  want  to  pick  up  the 
dropped  brick  before  the  wheelbarrow 
can  retrieve  it. 

When  a  wheelbarrow  is  empty,  it 
moves  faster  than  it  does  when  it  is 
filled.  A  wheelbarrow  can  pick  up  a 
brick  by  moving  over  a  brick  of  the 
same  color  or  by  getting  a  new  one  at 
the  maze  entrance  at  the  top  center  of 
the  screen.  Wheelbarrows  will  no  long- 
er move  to  the  entrance  for  new  bricks 
when  all  bricks  of  the  same  color  as 
the  wheelbarrow  have  been  brought 
out  onto  the  maze. 

If  a  wheelbarrow  touches  any  part  of 
the  tank,  the  tank  becomes  electrified 
and  is  destroyed.  There  are  four  extra 
tanks:  when  all  your  tanks  are  de- 
stroyed, the  game  is  over.  Pressing  the 
fire  button  will  start  a  new  game. 

When  you  pick  up  a  brick,  your 
speed  will  be  reduced,  but  you  want  to 
take  it  to  the  bottom  of  the  screen  and 
drop  it  directly  over  the  hole  with  the  ap- 
propriate color.  When  all  the  holes  are 
filled,  a  new  maze  appears,  and  you 
earn  a  bonus  player. 

To  pause  the  game,  hold  down  the 
Shift  key  or  press  the  Shift  Lock  key. 
To  continue  playing,  release  the  Shift 
or  Shift  Lock  key. 


BRICK  LAYER 


0801: 
3399: 
3  811: 
0819: 
0821: 
0829: 
0831: 
0839: 
0841: 
0849: 
0851: 
0859: 
0861: 
0869: 
0871: 
0879: 
0881: 
0889: 
0891: 
0399: 
08A1: 
08A9: 
08B1: 
08B9: 
08C1: 
08C9: 
08D1; 


3B  08 
37  m 
20  20 
3C  .08 
99  33 
B9  0C 
F7  A9 
2E  4C 
IE  07 
07  C8 
35  01 
20  34 
16  A2 
a2  04 
10  05 
A8  A5 
F7  A5 
A5  F8 
E3  20 
20  34 
A6  18 
AS  FD 
03  40 
D0  IC 
34  03 
03  4C 
03  E6 


70  17 
00  00 
20  20 
99  Fa 
03  88 
08  99 
7E  35 

00  01 
18  B9 
D0  F7 
06  F9 
03  F0 

01  20 
20  34 
A2  0A 
A7  B5 
FF  85 
8  5  FF 
34  03 
03  A0 
A5  PC 
65  A7 
13  01 
A0  03 
F0  08 
5C  01 
A7  4C 


9E  32 

2«  20 
20  A0 
00  B9 
D0  Fl 
FF  03 
2D  A9 
12  EA 
6E  09 
EE  02 
D0  ED 

33  C9 

34  03 
03  18 
20  34 
A9  A5 
F8  20 
A5  F7 
DO  IE 
02  84 
65  A6 
85  Fa 
Ea  20 
34  AS 
A2  08 
A2  0C 
5C  01 


34  30  6E 
20  20  96 
C4  B9  06 
FD  08  F6 
A0  09  4C 
88  D0  Al 
IE  85  Al 

00  7E  3E 
99  E8  74 

01  EE  19 
A2  03  23 
07  D0  95 
00  0A  A0 
69  07  65 
0  3  8  5  ID 
FE  85  FB 
6C  03  73 
85  FE  72 
A2  08  21 
AS  85  2A 
85  F7  58 
20  6C  EF 
34  03  FB 
EB  20  36 
20  34  F4 
20  34  C3 
E8  20  AF 


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15D1: 

FE 

A9 

00 

8D 

EC 

02 

AC 

42 

C9 

1801: 

39 

30 

39 

06 

66 

06 

42 

26 

75 

13A9 

60 

67 

12 

0B 

18 

96 

0C 

35 

85 

15D9: 

02 

OF 

F0 

30 

34 

23 

C9 

FF 

AB 

1809: 

23 

06 

0A 

01 

30 

10 

IE 

08 

D3 

13B1 

F3 

E6 

AS 

78 

C9 

30 

79 

E8 

73 

ISEl: 

F0 

47 

80 

5F 

F3 

41 

41 

C6 

EB 

IBll: 

E4 

05 

40 

16 

00 

E4 

00 

04 

6E 

13B9- 

10 

Bl 

42 

A6 

C3 

50 

27 

47 

FB 

15E9: 

IF 

9C 

6C 

78 

B4 

20 

77 

54 

49 

1819: 

01 

27 

0C 

42 

F3 

04 

65 

A0 

54 

13C1 

17 

82 

64 

36 

6E 

7C 

lA 

65 

03 

15F1: 

03 

75 

A4 

01 

42 

20 

2B 

lA 

25 

1821: 

08 

19 

12 

68 

06 

16 

9A 

81 

A3 

G-30        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


1829 

:1F 

66 

01 

23 

12 

03 

00 

00 

71 

1831 

:80 

17 

00 

08 

15 

0B 

00 

16 

D2 

1339 

:  15 

0a 

00 

23 

15 

05 

FF 

C0 

26 

1841 

:F0 

7F 

F0 

Fl 

C0 

FC 

F7 

C0 

Bl 

1849 

:BC 

0B 

FE 

88 

80 

30 

80 

14 

7E 

1851 

:25 

20 

F9 

00 

7F 

E9 

00 

3F 

3E 

1859 

.89 

00 

3E 

40 

5C 

IB 

40 

10 

ED 

1861 

.32 

04 

00 

48 

09 

00 

30 

09 

El 

1869 

FE 

0A 

3E 

03 

8F 

40 

BB 

EF 

78 

1871 

■3F 

7F 

26 

01 

20 

02 

85 

0D 

17 

1879 

38 

00 

9F 

54 

02 

97 

FE 

00 

53 

1881 

91 

FC 

2A 

00 

3B 

90 

D2 

00 

C0 

18B9 

08 

85 

40 

90 

12 

00 

90 

0C 

ED 

1891 

CB 

52 

08 

14 

20 

C5 

45 

IC 

3D 

1899 

0E 

05 

42 

21 

FF 

C3 

FF 

OF 

8A 

18A1 

C3 

F0 

3F 

FF 

F0 

50 

71 

81 

FE 

18A9 

3F 

FF 

FC 

4E 

A0 

3C 

18 

C2 

E6 

13B1 

18 

94 

0  5 

10 

S0 

23 

05 

19 

68 

18B9 

81 

55 

98 

04 

90 

8F 

09 

05 

2D 

13C1 

02 

01 

09 

96 

13 

76 

E0 

01 

F2 

13C9 

0C 

81 

0E 

14 

lA 

06 

01 

14 

62 

13D1 

07 

7B 

13 

06 

05 

Bl 

25 

0A 

0B 

18D9 

05 

01 

IS 

07 

7D 

IF 

05 

Al 

54 

IBEl 

OB 

20 

08 

lA 

28 

EE 

00 

21 

60 

18E9 

09 

6C 

A0 

06 

39 

22 

0A 

01 

95 

18F1 

31 

07 

0D 

19 

04 

13 

06 

00 

28 

18F9 

3C 

D0 

15 

00 

0F 

10 

01 

DC 

7E 

1901 

0C 

11 

01 

12 

C0 

01 

01 

15 

DF 

1909 

0F 

03 

3C 

12 

90 

09 

15 

13 

12 

1911 

5A 

12 

14 

04 

04 

03 

18 

0F 

23 

1919 

00 

3E 

12 

01 

00 

18 

13 

04 

B7 

19  21 

00 

IE 

0F 

04 

01 

IE 

10 

04 

Al 

1929- 

FF 

00 

6B 

7F 

3E 

77 

3E 

7F 

8C 

1931 

6B 

E0 

82 

2F 

80 

00 

3C 

3C 

4D 

1939: 

00 

00 

IC 

C8 

08 

FF 

FF 

A0 

5C 

1941: 

02 

08 

42 

42 

7E 

7E 

8E 

IF 

0D 

1949: 

93 

08 

00 

FD 

FB 

F7 

02 

04 

EE 

1951: 

08 

02 

05 

07 

01 

02 

03 

03 

32 

1959: 

03 

06 

09 

ec 

0C 

ac 

FA 

ce 

BF 

1961: 

96 

64 

32 

50 

52 

45 

53 

53 

E4 

1969: 

20 

42 

55 

54 

AS 

C2 

OF 

4E 

A8 

1971: 

20 

54 

4F 

20 

50 

4C 

41 

59 

44 

1979: 

10 

4F 

C8 

45 

58 

54 

52 

41 

EE 

1981: 

3A 

00 

12 

20 

92 

4C 

45 

56 

BB 

1989: 

45 

4C 

3A 

00 

EA 

00 

00 

00 

10 

Maurice  Yanney  is  the  author  of  Cats  & 
Mice  and  Umbrellas,  games  that  ap- 
peared In  Gazette  earlier  this  year  He 
lives  in  Lebanon,  Pennsylvania. 


CD+ 


By  Daniel  Lightner 

Character  Designer  (September  1992)  is 
a  utility  program  tliat  lets  you  create 
your  own  characters  and  use  them  to  set 
up  animation  sequences.  With  its  sketch 
pad  you  can  create  a  design,  character, 
or  picture  that  you  can  save  as  a  sequen- 
tial file. 

CD+  is  a  special  addition  to  Character 
Designer  (CD)  that  lets  you  use  the  orig- 
inal program  to  design  high-resolution 
bitmapped  graphics.  (Note:  You  will 
need  a  copy  of  Character  Designer  in  or- 


der to  useCD+.) 

CD+  is  written  in  machine  language. 
To  enter  it,  use  MLX,  Gazette's  machine 
language  entry  program,  which  you'll 
find  elsewhere  in  this  section.  When  MLX 
prompts  for  starting  and  ending  address- 
es, supply  the  following  values. 

Starting  address:  0801 
Ending  address:  1003 

When  you  have  finished  entering  the 
program:,  be  sure  to  save  a  copy  of  it 
to  a  disk  that  contains  the  original  Char- 
acter Designer  program.  Character  De- 
signer must  be  named  CD,  because 
CD+  looks  for  that  name  and  loads  it 
while  booting. 

Using  the  Program 

To  use  CD+.  just  load  and  run  it  as  you 
would  any  BASIC  program.  CD+  then 
loads  and  activates  Character  Design- 
er. The  program  begins  on  CD's  work 
screen.  Using  CD's  design  and  draw- 
ing features,  you  can  create  an  image 
in  the  program's  sketch  window. 
When  you  have  finished  sketching, 
press  the  back  arrow  key  to  exit 
Sketch  mode  and  then  press  the  aster- 
isk key  (").  At  this  point,  you'll  see  a 
menu  new  to  Character  Designer. 

CD  Bitmap  Menu 

Option  1  is  Enter  Bitmap  Mode.  Select 
this  first  option  by  pressing  the  1  key. 
If  the  screen  contains  garbage,  press 
Shift  and  CIr/Home  simultaneously  to 
clear  it.  Press  Return  whenever  you 
wish  to  return  to  the  Bitmap  menu. 

Your  cursor  will  appear  as  four  visi- 
ble corners  that  define  a  section  of  the 
screen.  You  can  move  to  a  new  sec- 
tion of  the  screen  using  your  joystick  or 
the  cursor  keys.  If  you  wish  to  stamp 
the  image  from  the  sketch  window  into 
one  of  these  12  screen  sections, 
move  to  the  desired  section  and  press 
either  the  fire  button  or  the  f7  key. 

You  may  stamp  the  image  into  as 
many  of  the  sections  as  you  like.  If  you 
want  to  remove  an  image,  press  the  CIr/ 
Home  key  without  using  the  Shift  key. 

Color 

CD+  allows  you  to  enter  different  col- 
ors in  different  areas  of  the  screen. 
This  color  depends  on  the  color  used 
in  the  sketch  window,  if  you  need  to  col- 


or a  section  of  the  screen  but  don't 
wish  to  stamp  the  graphic  image 
there,  just  press  the  C  key.  That  sec- 
tion of  the  screen  will  change  to  the 
background  color  of  the  sketch  win- 
dow, but  it  won't  contain  any  graphics. 
You  can  equalize  the  color  of  the  entire 
screen  by  pressing  the  E  key. 

By  pressing  the  f  1  key,  you  can  trans- 
fer whatever  image  is  under  the  mark- 
ers to  the  sketch  window.  This  is  just 
the  opposite  of  pressing  f7.  You  can 
toggle  the  markers  on  and  off  by  press- 
ing the  asterisk  key.  Remember,  to  ex- 
it Bitmap  mode,  just  hit  the  Return  key. 

Loading  and  Saving 

Option  2  lets  you  load  a  bitmap  from 
disk.  Doodie  sketches  will  load  into 
CD+  just  fine. 

Option  3  lets  you  save  a  screen  to 
disk.  This  gives  you  a  more  powerful 
way  to  save  character  sets  created  us- 
ing Character  Designer.  Just  store 
them  in  the  sketch  window  as  you  cre- 
ate them,  When  you  wish  to  save 
them,  stamp  them  on  the  bitmap  and 
save  the  file.  Later,  you  can  load  the 
bitmap  and  add  more  characters  or 
take  some  or  all  from  the  bitmap  and 
save  them  as  sequential  files  using 
Character  Designer's  old  Save  option. 

Disk  Commands 

Option  4  lets  you  enter  a  disk  com- 
mand. Be  sure  that  you  have  the  de- 
sired disk  in  the  drive. 

Disk  commands  should  follow  the 
same  format  that  is  used  when  open- 
ing the  command  channel  to  drive  8.  ex- 
cept for  the  NEW  disk  command. 

The  COPYFILE  command  is  CO:  or 
C:  followed  by  the  new  filename,  an 
equal  sign,  and  the  old  name.  Here's 
an  example. 

CG:NEW  FILE=ORIGiNAL  FILE 

The  RENAME  FILE  command  works 
with  a  similar  syntax. 

RO:NEW  NAiVIE=OLD  NAME 

The  SCRATCH  command  is  SO:  fol- 
lowed by  the  filename  to  be 
scratched.  Wildcards  are  allowed.  INI- 
TIALIZE is  10,  and  VALIDATE  is  VO. 

The  NEW  command  to  format  a  disk 
works  a  little  different  from  what  you're 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-31 


PROGRAMS 


used  to.  The  syntax  for  this  command 
is  NO;  followed  by  a  disl<  name,  but 
don't  enter  a  unique  ID  at  ttiis  point. 
Simply  press  Return,  You  will  then  be 
prompted  for  a  two-character  ID.  Enter 
an  ID  and  press  Return  again. 

While  in  Disk  Command  mode,  enter- 
ing a  dollar  sign  ($)  will  give  you  the 
disk  directory-  You  don't  have  to  use 
quotation  marks.  To  abort  any  of  the 
above  options,  simply  press  the  aster- 
isk key  and  then  press  Return.  The 
last  option  (5)  will  return  you  lo  Char- 
acter Designer. 

Doodle  Converter 

Although  CD-i-  can  load  Doodle 
bitnnaps,  Doodle  cannot  load  CD+ 
bitmaps.  So  I've  included  a  short  utili- 
ty program  that  will  convert  CD+ 
bitmaps  to  Doodle. 

CD  Doodle  is  whtten  in  machine  lan- 
guage, and  it  will  have  to  be  entered 
with  MLX,  When  entering  it,  use  the  fal- 
lowing addresses. 

Starting  address:  0801 
Ending  address:  OBAD 

Be  sure  to  save  a  copy  of  CD  Doodle 
to  disk  before  leaving  fvlLX. 

First  create  and  save  a  bitmap  from 
CD+.  Then  exit  to  BASIC  and  ioad  and 
run  CD  Doodle.  You  will  be  prompted 
for  the  filename  that  you  used  to  save 
the  bitmap  graphic.  Enter  that  fiiename 
and  press  Return.  Be  sure  that  the 
disk  containing  the  graphic  is  in  the 
drive. 

After  the  file  loads,  the  program 
prompts  you  to  place  a  disk  in  the 
drive  onto  which  you  want  to  save  the 
converted  image.  Do  this  and  press 
the  spacebar  when  ready. 

CD  Doodle  will  save  the  file  as  DD 
plus  the  filename  that  you  used.  This 
file  can  now  be  used  in  Doodle. 


CD+ 

0801; 
0809; 
0811; 
0819: 
0821; 
0829; 
0831; 
0839; 
9841; 
0849: 
0851; 
0859; 


22  08 

38  20 

39  33 
55  54 
00  00 
24  08 
8D  B3 
AD  27 
FB  A9 
6D  B2 
6D  B3 
Bl  FB 


0A  00  9E 

43  44  2B 

3A  20  43 

45  20  20 

00  75  07 

8D  82  02 

02  AD  26 

08  85  FE 

08  85  FC 

02  80  84 

02  8D  B5 

91  FD  18 


32 

3B 

38 

88 

20 

31 

39 

5F 

4F 

4D 

50 

16 

20 

20 

20 

75 

00 

80 

AD 

6F 

AD 

25 

08 

43 

08 

85 

FD 

eA 

A9 

8E 

35 

84 

18 

AS 

FB 

A2 

02 

A5 

FC 

C8 

02 

AS 

00 

15 

A5 

FB 

69 

0C 

08S1: 
0869; 
0871: 
0879; 
0881: 
0389; 
0891: 
0899; 
08A1; 
08A9; 
0881; 
08B9: 
08C1; 
08C9: 
08D1; 
08D9: 
08E1: 
08E9: 
08F1: 
08F9: 
0901: 
0909: 
0911: 
0919: 
0921: 
0929: 
0931: 
0939: 
0941: 
0949: 
0951: 
0959: 
0961: 
0969: 
0971: 
0979: 
0981: 
0989: 
0991: 
0999: 
39AI: 
09A9: 
09B1: 
0969: 
09C1: 
09C9: 
0901: 
09D9: 
09E1: 
09E9: 
09F1: 
09F9: 
0A01V 
0A09: 
0A11: 
0A19: 
0A21: 
0A29: 
0A31: 
0A39: 
0A41: 
0A49: 
0A51: 
0A59: 
0A61: 
0A69: 
0A7i: 
0A79: 
0A31: 
0A39: 


01  85  FB 
FC  18  A5 
A5  FE  69 
CD  B4  02 
A  5  FC  CD 
59  08  6C 
34  03  A9 
44  8D  36 
00  A2  FF 
A9  28  8D 
3A  09  4C 
C9  2A  F0 
51  21  8A 
87  AD  21 
37  8D  72 
6F  87  AD 
AD  01  DO 
D0  29  0F 
A9  28  8D 
15  D0  A9 
00  B9  68 
C0  6B  D0 
31  F0  IB 
33  F0  19 

3  5  D0  E9 
20  B0  80 
80  4C  83 
C4  34  4C 
29  3F  09 

04  8D  88 
10  D0  AD 
AD  71  37 
00  89  D3 
C0  00  D0 
8D  28  D0 
D0  20  D2 
47  A9  41 
3D  FA  4  7 
AD  18  D0 
OF  09  10 
80  88  02 
D3  09  08 
00  09  20 
80  15  00 
8D  02  DD 
09  02  80 

03  D0  0 


A5  FC 
FD  6  9 
00  8  5 
F0  0  3 
B5  0  2 
26  08 
43  8D 
03  20 
A0  FF 
39  09 

28  08 
03  4C 
0A  0A 
D0  29 

87  AD 
00  D0 
8D  71 

09  A0 

88  02 
93  20 
85  20 
F5  20 
C9  32 
C9  34 
A9  01 
4C  DB 
83  4C 
59  80 

10  8D 
0  2  AD 
70  87 
3D  01 
85  99 
F5  60 
8D  29 
80  A9 
8D  F9 
A9  43 

29  F0 


8D 
23 
3D 


00  03 
03  4C 


E0 
07 
DO 

10  D0  A2 
01  F0  F9 
83  C9  00 
CA  02  C9 
F0  6F  C9 
F0  61  C9 
F0  5C  09 
F0  45  C9 
D0  C2  A9 
18  DO  29 
29  OF  09 
04  30  S3 
OF  80  11 
03  3D  02 
FC  09  03 
83  4C  4F 
01  83  4C 
4C  5B  82 
82  4C  0A 
69  31  C9 
37  20  9A 


8D  11 
AD  02 
AD  00 
03  00 
3  4C 
4C  53 
53  82 
00  AD 
20  E4 
F0  EF 
ID  F0 
88  F0 
13  F0 
43  FO 
85  F0 
00  8D 
F0  69 
10  80 
02  AD 
D0  AO 
DD  AO 
3D  00 
83  4C 
5F  81 
4C  23 
8  2  AD 
0C  F0 
82  4C 


69  00 

01  85 
FE  A5 
4C  88 
F0  03 
A9  32 
35  03 

02  84 
20  05 
A9  80 
20  E4 
95  09 
0A  3D 
OF  0D 
10  D0 
80  70 
87  AD 
80  18 
A9  00 
D2  FF 
02  FF 
E4  FF 
F0  lA 
F0  13 
3D  15 

08  4C 
Cl  83 
AD  13 
18  00 
6F  87 
8D  30 
DO  60 
00  50 
AD  27 
DO  BD 
40  80 
47  A9 
8D  FB 

09  20 
D0  A9 

8  2  .AD 
00  AO 
00  A9 
DD  09 
DD  29 
AE  6E 
53  32 
82  E0 
A9  03 
CA  0  2 
FF  20 
A2  31 
76  C9 
62  C9 
57  C9 
46  C9 
38  C9 
15  OO 
0C  09 
18  D0 
11  D0 
02  DO 
00  00 
DD  40 
74  82 
4C  C4 
82  4C 
6E  37 

09  8D 
40  81 


85 

FD 

40 
EA 

FB 

B0 

38 

4F 

4C 

DE 

8D 

B0 

A9 

D6 

A9 

El 

FF 

90 

80 

5B 

FF 

B7 

AD 

FF 

72 

AA 

72 

4C 

80 

AC 

87 

5E 

18 

19 

DO 

5B 

8D 

5F 

A0 

24 

C8 

FB 

C9 

2E 

C9 

43 

G9 

20 

D0 

13 

E0 

C4 

23 

CF 

D0 

A9 

A9 

E5 

SD 

39 

DO 

9F 

A0 

15 

C8 

EA 

D0 

2E 

2A 

19 

F8 

CO 

42 

25 

47 

34 

29 

42 

44 

EB 

18 

31 

11 

B0 

0F 

79 

03 

69 

FC 

78 

87 

A0 

E3 

F4 

0a 

3A 

8D 

24 

C9 

F2 

20 

89 

8E 

E9 

90 

98 

93 

6B 

2A 

33 

45 

A3 

OD 

A5 

AD 

9B 

04 

4B 

A9 

OF 

29 

68 

09 

lA 

29 

BA 

59 

09 

20 

44 

82 

A7 

EC 

40 

18 

99 

6E 

89 

A9 

F4 

0A91: 
0A99: 
0AA1: 
0AA9; 
0AB1; 
0AB9; 
0AC1: 
0AC9: 
0AD1; 
0AD9; 
3AE1; 
0AE9; 
OAFl; 
aAF9: 
0B01: 
0B09; 
0311; 
0B19: 
0B21: 
0B29: 
0S31: 
0B39: 
0841; 
0B49: 
0851: 
0B59; 
0B61; 
0369: 
0B71: 
0879; 
0B31: 
0889: 
0B91: 
0899; 
OBAl; 
08A9; 
0BB1: 
0BB9: 
0BC1; 
08C9; 
0801: 
0BD9: 
OBEl: 
0BE9: 
0BF1; 
0BF9; 
0C01; 
OC09; 
0C11; 
0C19; 
0C21: 
0C29; 
0C31; 
0C39; 
3C41; 
0C49; 
0CS1; 
0C59; 
0C61: 
0C69; 
0C71; 
0C79; 
0C81; 
0C39; 
0C91; 
0C99: 
0CA1: 
0CA9; 
0CB1; 
0CS9i 


00  80 
6E  S7 
6E  87 
A9  OB 
A9  00 
20  01 
FB  18 
A5  FC 
C9  41 
FC  C9 
A9  OF 
20  6B 
FB  C8 
82  20 
EA  AE 
FB  BD 
AO  00 
CO  0A 
E0  08 
6E  87 
BD  D2 
CO  08 
69  40 

3  5  FC 
lA  AE 
FB  BD 
AO  00 
50  D0 
82  E8 
82  AD 
8D  15 
BD  15 
85  FO 
A0  00 
CO  28 
EO  19 
AD  00 
lA  AD 
37  A9 

04  FO 
73  87 
60  A9 
00  Bl 
D0  F7 
E8  EO 
AE  6E 
BD  62 
FD  A9 
AO  00 
D2  PF 
42  35 
DO  F5 
C9  2A 
00  A2 
20  69 
20  D2 
29  80 
A9  00 
20  D2 
29  15 
F0  lA 
A9  00 
A2  4E 
FF  20 
34  93 
FF  A9 
BA  FF 
20  20 
FF  A0 
00  A2 


6E  37 
38  E9 
20  9A 
8D  6E 

85  FB 
83  A0 
A5  FB 
69  00 
F0  03 
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BE  82 
6E  37 
4A  37 
AO  72 
D0  F6 
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BD  32 

86  99 
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OF  38 
08  C9 
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ID  60 
FB  91 
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20  D2 
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F0  12 
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29  2A 
3  5  FB 
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08  A2 
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09  20 
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4C  FC 
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37  4C 
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85  FC 
4C  30 
E0  4C 
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DO  F7 
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BD  3E 
35  FC 
87  91 
20  64 
4C  40 
87  AA 
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AS  FC 
72  lA 
80  56 
85  FC 
91  FB 
BO  82 
DO  EA 
00  08 
40  81 
40  81 
85  FE 

87  91 
20  72 
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29  OF 
ED  74 
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20  6B 
FD  C3 
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56  87 
FC  A9 
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34  AD 
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93  20 
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98  A0 
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09  80  D4 
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15  32  08 
85  FC  El 
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85  FB  A4 
AS  FB  84 
32  AS  37 
40  81  15 
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FD  91  B7 
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37  35  F9 
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FD  C8  97 
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81  AE  A7 
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A5  FB  C5 
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87  85  42 
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4C  74  DE 
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20  BD  3B 
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60  A0  DC 

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G-32        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


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38 

0809 

19 

4C 

BB 

08 

A5 

FE 

09 

7F 

BO 

0B09: 

24 

0D 

43 

44 

20 

44 

4F 

4F 

89 

08E1 

F0 

10 

4C 

03 

08 

A2 

00 

20 

23 

OBU: 

44 

4C 

45 

0D 

43 

4F 

50 

59 

27 

08E9 

C6 

FF 

A9 

02 

20 

C3 

FF 

4C 

OF 

0B19: 

52 

49 

47 

48 

54 

20 

31 

39 

D6 

98F1 

42 

08 

A2 

90 

20 

C6 

FF 

A9 

3F 

0B21: 

39 

32 

20 

43 

4F 

4D 

50 

55 

3E 

08F9 

02 

20 

C3 

FF 

29 

15 

0A 

A0 

95 

0B29: 

54 

45 

0D 

50 

55 

42 

4C 

49 

F6 

3901 

00 

B9 

37 

3B 

29 

D2 

FF 

C8 

38 

0B31: 

43 

41 

54 

49 

4F 

4E 

53 

20 

D2 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-33 


PROGRAMS 


0B39 

:49 

4E 

54 

4C 

20 

4C 

54 

44 

F5 

0B41 

0D 

41 

4C 

4C 

20 

52 

49 

47 

A0 

0B49 

A3 

54 

53 

20 

52 

45 

53 

45 

98 

0B51 

52 

56 

45 

44 

43 

44 

23 

42 

C0 

0B59 

49 

54 

2D 

4D 

41 

50 

20 

46 

75 

0B61 

49 

4C 

45 

3F 

2C 

50 

2C 

52 

19 

0B69 

4E 

63 

65 

66 

51 

59 

5A 

5B 

92 

0B71 

44 

4F 

23 

41 

4E 

4F 

54 

48 

36 

0B79 

45 

52 

20 

44 

4F 

4F 

44 

4C 

9B 

0B81 

45 

3F 

20 

59 

2F 

4E 

50 

4C 

43 

0B89 

41 

43 

45 

20 

44 

4F 

4F 

44 

FD 

0B91 

4C 

45 

20 

44 

49 

53 

4B 

20 

B5 

01199 

49 

4e: 

20 

44 

52 

49 

56 

45 

D9 

0BA1 

20 

48 

49 

54 

20 

41 

4E 

59 

44 

0BA9 

23 

4B 

45 

59 

00 

00 

00 

00 

E0 

Daniel  Lightner.  the  author  of  Risers 
and  Sliders,  lives  in  Sidney,  Montana. 

SILICON  COBBLER 

By  Bob  Markland 

Convenience!  Webster  defines  conven- 
ience as  "anything  that  saves  work." 
Busy  people  of  the  nineties  demand  con- 
venience. Recognizing  this,  many  com- 
mercial programs  load  and  run  with  the 
fewest  possible  keystrokes  from  the  us- 
er. Unfortunately,  this  convenience  isn't 
available  on  many  disks  and  most  short- 
er programs. 

Silicon  Cobbler  is  an  autoboot  maker 
that  provides  a  simple  solution  to  this  and 
requires  no  computer  or  programming  ex- 
perience. Although  there  have  been  a 
number  of  autoboot  makers  written, 
many  attach  themselves  to  a  program 
and  permanently  alter  it.  Some  work  on- 
ly with  BASiC  programs:  others  work  on- 
ly with  machine  language  routines. 

Silicon  Cobbler  works  with  virtually  any 
program  and  allows  maximum  flexibility. 
Most  important,  it  creates  a  one-block  au- 
toboot program  that  is  totally  independ- 
ent of  the  original  program. 

With  an  autoboot  as  the  first  file  on  the 
disk  followed  by  a  menu/loader,  you 
have  a  combination  that  creates  effort- 
less program  selection  and  loading. 

Typing  It  In 

Silicon  Cobbler  is  written  entirely  in  BA- 
SIC. To  help  avoid  errors,  enter  it  with 
The  Automatic  Proofreader,  which  you 
will  find  elsewhere  in  this  section.  Be- 
fore exiting  Proofreader,  be  sure  to 
save  a  copy  of  the  program  to  disk. 

Creating  an  Autoboot 

To  use  Silicon  Cobbler,  load  and  run  it 
as  you  would  any  BASIC  program.  It 

G-34        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


takes  only  a  few  minutes  to  create  an 
autoboot.  Silicon  Cobbler  walks  you 
through,  letting  you  select  the  border, 
screen,  and  character  colors  during 
the  initial  loading.  These  attributes  en- 
able you  to  select  the  visual  effects 
you  want  for  a  smooth  transition  while 
your  main  program  loads. 

You  are  then  prompted  for  the 
name  of  the  program  to  be  loaded  and 
run.  Enter  the  filename  of  the  program 
for  which  you  are  creating  the  auto- 
boot. You  may  type  the  first  few  letters 
followed  by  an  asterisk  (*)  wildcard,  as 
long  as  no  filename  conflicts  result. 

You  are  then  asked  for  the  com- 
mand to  activate  the  program.  Type  in 
the  command  that  you  normally  use  to 
activate  the  main  program.  This  is  usu- 
ally RUN  or  SYS  and  a  starting  ad- 
dress. The  next  prompt  asks  for  a  char- 
acter color  following  the  load,  in  most 
cases,  set  this  attribute  to  match  the 
screen  and  border  color  in  steps  1  and 
2.  This  provides  for  a  smooth  transition. 
You  are  then  asked  for  a  filename  for 
the  autoboot  program.  For  easy  identi- 
fication, give  the  autoboot  a  name  sim- 
ilar to  the  name  of  the  program  it 
boots.  For  example,  you  might  add  the 
suffix  LOAD  or  BOOT  to  the  filename. 
Silicon  Cobbler  then  lists  the  choices 
that  you  have  made.  Carefully  check 
each  attribute.  If  you  find  an  error, 
press  S  to  start  over;  otherwise,  press 
C  to  Continue. 

When  you  continue,  the  autoboot 
will  be  created.  Be  sure  the  destination 
disk  is  in  the  drive.  There  are  two  tech- 
niques for  utilizing  autoboots.  If  the  au- 
toboot is  the  first  directory  entry,  the  pro- 
gram may  be  booted  by  typing 
LOAD""', 8, 1.  For  programs  elsewhere 
in  the  directory,  load  the  autoboot  pro- 
gram with  the  ,8,1  extension, 

The  final  prompt  gives  you  the  op- 
tion to  make  additional  autoboots  or 
quit  to  BASIC. 

Troubleshooting 

If  a  BASIC  program  will  not  autoboot, 
check  the  program's  load  address.  If 
it's  not  2049,  change  it. 

Silicon  Cobbler  checks  for  disk 
drive  errors.  If  a  filename  already  exists 
on  your  disk,  select  another  name,  or 
overwrite  the  existing  autoboot.  If  you 
find  that  an  autoboot  does  not  work 
properly,  create  a  new  autoboot  and 


overwrite  the  old  one. 

Advanced  Techniques 

Autoboots  can  be  successfully  added 
to  nearly  all  disks,  including  backups 
of  commercial  software.  If  the  program 
uses  a  standard  directory,  save  the  au- 
toboot as  you  normally  would,  and 
then  move  its  filename  to  the  first  direc- 
tory position. 

In  cases  where  there  is  only  one  file 
listed  and  no  bytes  free,  there  may 
still  be  a  solution.  With  a  sector  editor, 
carefully  check  track  18's  directory  sec- 
tors. They  may  be  standard  even  if  the 
other  tracks  and  sectors  are  not.  If  this 
is  the  case,  create  an  autoboot  on  an- 
other disk  and  copy  it  to  an  unused  sec- 
tor on  track  18.  Use  your  sector  editor 
to  move  the  existing  filenames  In  order 
to  open  the  first  position. 

Finally,  write  the  first  directory  entry 
for  the  autoboot  and  set  its  pointers  to 
the  sector  on  track  18  containing  the  au- 
toboot, What  with  the  possibility  of  a 
crash,  never  attempt  this  on  the  origi- 
nal commercial  disk! 

SILICON  COBBLER 

JS  10  REM:  COPYRIGHT  1993  -  CO 
MPUTE  PUBLICATIONS  INTL 
{SPACE}LTD  -  ALL  RIGHTS 
{SPACE}RESERVED 


FF 
JP 


20 
50 


CM  60 


HB  70 


HB 

GE 
SP 

SB 
PX 

FA 
BD 


80 


90 


100 


110 


120 


130 


140 


PRINT"{CLR)"CHRS(14  2)CHR 

$(8) : POKE  53 280, 2: POKE  53 2 

81,7:DIMC$(15) : POKE 7 8 8, 5 

2 

PORR=0TO15 : READJUS : NEXT : 

FORR=lT0125:READDT:CK=CK 

+DT:NEXT 

ifck015188thenprint" 

{homeHblk}(10  down} 

{8  spaces }err0r  in  nuher 

ical  data": stop 

ml5="" : restore :forr=0to1 

5:readc$(r) :next 

bl$= forr=it039:bl$=bl 

5+"  ":NEXT 
PRINT"{CLR) (BLK]"TAB(12 
) "{DOWN}SILICON  COBBLER 
";PRINTTAB(11) "PROGRAM 
{SPACE} BOOT  MAKER" 
PRINTTAB{12) "(DOWN}BY  R 
.  MARKLAND" 

PRINTTAB(16)"(C)  1993": 
PRINTTAB (5) "COMPUTE  PUB 
LIGATIONS  INTL  LTD" 
FORR=lT024;READDT:HL$=M 
L9+CHRS(DT) :NEXT 
GOSDB830:PRINT" 
{4  SPACESlSELECT  BORDER 
COLOR  DURING  LOAD":PRI 


NTTAB(16)  "  (0-15)  [DOWN)" 
PK  153  TB=18:NT=3:LE=2:GOSOB85 

a:BC=VAL(TP$) :IFBC>15TH 

EN140 
EX  160  MLS=MLS+CHR$ (EC) :G0SUB8 

20 
HQ  170  F0RR=1T04:READDT:ML3=ML 

$+CHRS (DT) :NEXT 
CE  1B0  GOSUB830: PRINT" 

[4  5PACES]SELECT  SCREEN 
COLOR  DURING  LOAD":PRI 

.MTTAB(16)  "  (0-15)  {DOWN}" 
FP  190  TB  =  13:NT  =  (l:LE  =  2:GOSUB85 

0:SC=VAL(TP$) :IFSC>15TH 

EN180 
HP  200  HLS=ML$+CHRS(SC) :G0SUB8 

20 
JS  210  F0RR=1T04:READDT:ML$=ML 

$+CHRS (DT) :NEXT 
KJ  220  GOSUB830:PRINT" 

{3  SPACES) SELECT  CHftRAC 

TER  COLOR  DURING  LOAD": 

PRINTTAB(16) " (0-15) 

{DOWN)" 
XK  230  TB=18:NT=G:LE=2:GOSUB85 

0:CL=VAL{TP$) :IFCL>15TH 

EN220 
FX  240  ML$=ML$+CHR5 (CL) :G0SUB8 

20 
GP  250  F0RR=1T033:READDT:HL$=M 

LS+CHR$ (DT) :NEXT 
CD  260  GOSUB830:PR:NTTAB  (9) "EN 

TER  NAME  OF  PROGRAM" 

{17  SPACES) 
BF  270  PRINTTAB(ll) "TO  BE  LOAD 

ED/RUH : " : PR  I  NTT AB ( 1 1 ) " ( 

1-16  CHARACTERS) [DOWN)" 
HE  280  TB=12:NT=l:LE=16:GOSUB8 

50:NAS=TPS:ML$=ML$+CHR$ 

{LEN (HAS) ) :GOSUQ820 
QK  290  F0RR=1T031:READDT:MLS=M 

LS+CHR5  (DT)  :NEXT 
FE  300  GOSUB830: PRINTTAB (8) "EN 

TER  NECESSARY  COMMAND" 
MF  310  PRINTTAB {10} "TO  ACTIVAT 

E  PR0GRAM":PRINTTAB(11) 

"YOU  WISH  TO  BOOT: " 
BK  320  PRINTTAB (8) " (E.G.  RUN  0 

R  SYS49152) {DOWN}" 
EP  333  TB=12:NT=l:LE=8:GOSUB35 

0:CMS=TPS:MLS=MLS+CHR$ ( 

len{cm$) ) :gosub820 

ak  343  f0rr=1t013:readdt:ml$=m 
ls+chrs(dt) :next 

ph  350  mls=mls+chr5(len (cms) +1 
) :forr=1t011:readdt:hls 
=ml$+chr$ (dt) :next 

jr  360  gosob930:print"  select 
{space)character  color 
{spacsJfollowing  load" 

dr  370  printtab(16) " (0-15) 

{ DOWN ) " 
PQ  380  TB=18:NT=0:LE=2:GOSUB85 

a:CP=VAL(TP$) :IFCP>15TH 

EN360 
MH  390  GOSUB820:HL$=ML$+CHRS (C 

P) :F0RR=1T08:READDT:ML5 


ES  400 

CX  410 

XC  420 

PB  430 

XA  440 

KS  450 

HD  460 

PC  470 

HP  480 

GX  490 

FX  500 

GE  510 

QF  520 

ES  510 

PP  540 

CH  550 


CB  560 

HR  570 

EE  580 

EQ  590 


JQ  603 


CG  610 
AF  620 


DS  630 


PS  640 
CE  650 


=ML9+CHRS 

MLS=«L$+" 
E  WAIT. . . 
F0RR=1T0L 
$+HIDS{NA 
LEN (NAS) = 
FORR=LEN( 
=  riL$+CHRS 
FORR=1TOL 
5+MIDS (CM 
S=ML5+CHR 
GOSUB830: 
NTER  A  FI 
PRINTTAB ( 
UTOBOOT: " 
(1-16  CHA 


(DT) :NEXT 
LOADING,  PLEAS 
."+CHR5{a) 
EN(NAS) :MLS=ML 
S,R,1} :NEXT:IF 
16THEN430 
NA$)+1T016:ML$ 
(234) :NEXT 
EN (CMS) :MLS=ML 
S,R,1) :NEXT:ML 
S{13) 

PRINTTA0{11) "E 
LE  NAME" 
11) "FOR  THIS  A 
:PRINTTAB (11) " 
RACTERS) {DOWN} 


TB=12tHT=l:LE=16:GOSUB8 
50:LHS=TPS:GOSUB820 
GOSUB830: PRINTTAB (2) "BO 
RDER  COLOR  IS:"TAB(38-L 
EN(CS(BC) ) )CS(BC) 
PRINTTAB (2) "SCREEN  COLO 
R  IS: "TAB(38-LEN(C$ (SO 
))CS(SC) 

PRINTTAB (2) "LOAD  CHR  CO 
LOR  IS:"TAB{38-LeN(C5{C 
L)))CS(CL) 

PRINTTAB  (2) "PROGRAM  TO 
[SPACE] BOOT  IS  :  "TAB (38- 
LEN  (NAS)  )NAS 
PRINT1>-AB{2)  "CHD  TO  ACT  I 
VATE  IS:"TAB  (38-LEN (CMS 
)  )CMS 

PRINTTAB (2) "PROG  CHR  CO 
LOR  IS:"TAB{38-LEN(C$(C 
P}))CS{CP) 

PRINTTAB(2) "AUTOBOOT  NA 
ME  IS: "TAB (38-LEN (LNS) ) 
LN$ 

PRINTTAB (7) "[2  DOWNjPLE 
ASE  REVIEW  VOUR  CHOICES 
": PRINTTAB (15) "[D0WN)TH 
EN  PRESS" 

PRINT" (DOWN)   (C)  TO  CON 
TINUE  -/-  (S)  TO  START 
(SPACE)OVER" 
GETDS: IFDS=""THEN560 
IFD$="S"THEN80 
IFDS<>"C"THEN560 
GOSUB830: PRINTTAB (8) "IN 
SERT  DESTINATION  DISK": 
PRINTTAB (15) "[D0HN}THEN 

PRESS" 
PRINTTAB (7) "{DOWN}ANY  K 
EY  TO  CREATE  AUTOBOOT": 
POKE198,0 

GETDS: IFDS=""THEN610 
GOSUB830:PRINTTAB(a) " 
{4  DOWN5W0RKING,  PLEASE 

WAIT. . . ." 
0PEN15,a,15, "I0:":OPEN8 
,8,8,"0:"+LNS+",P,R":CL 
OSEa:FL=0:GOSUB96a 
IFFLTHEN470 

OPEN  15, 8, 15: OPENS, 8, 8," 
0 : "+LNS+" , P,W" :CL0SE8 : F 


CB 
DX 
DK 


RC 
GJ 


JR 
PK 
RK 
RE 


660 
670 
680 


690 
700 


710 
720 
730 
740 


SJ  75e 


PX  760 


DF  770 


PQ 
KF 
MS 
XD 


780 
790 
800 
810 


L-0:GOSUB960 

IFFLTHEN470 

IFE1O63THEN740 

GOSUB830:HS$="FILE  "+CH 

RS  (34)+LN$+CHRS (34)+"  A 

LREADY  EXISTS" 

PRINTTAB ( (40- (LEN(MSS)  ) 

)/2)MS$ 

PRINTTAB (13) "{D0WN}0VER 

WRITE  IT?":PRINTTAB{16) 

"Y  -/-  N" 

GETDS: I FD$=" "THEN? 10 

IFDS=''n"THEN440 

IFDS<>"Y"THeN710 

OPEN15,8,15,"I0:":PRINT 

#15,  "50: "  +  LNS: CLOSE  15 

OPENS, 8, a, "0: "+LN$+",P, 

W"  :  PRINT  If  8,  MLS:  CLOSES  :C 

L0SE15 

GOSUB830;PRINT"{2  DOWN) 

{2  SPACES}AUTOBOOT  COMP 

LETED,  DO  YOU  WISH  TO:" 

PRINTTAB (10) "{D0WN)1. 

{2  SPACES)CREATE  ANOTHE 

R?":PRINTTAB  (10) "{DOWN} 

2. [2  SPACES}QUIT?" 

GETDS:IFDS=""THEN780 

IFDS="1"THEN80 

IFDS<>"2"THEN780 

PRINT"{CLR}":P0KE64  6,14 

: POKE 64 7, 14: POKE  53 2 8 0,1 

4: POKE53  2  81,6:POKE78  8,4 

9:END 

PRINT:PRINTTAB(16) " 

[DOWN}ENTERSD" :F0RT=1T0 

1000:NEXT 

PRINT" {HOME] {9  D0WN)":F 

0RR=1T014:PRINTBLS:NEXT 

: PRINT" {home) {9  DOWN}" 

RETURN 

POKE198,0:PRINTTAB{TB) ; 

:POKE204,0:TPS="" 

P0KE647,PEEK(646) :GETKI 

$: IFKI5=""THEN860 

IFKI5=CHR?  C34)THEN86  0 

IFKI$=CHR$ (13) ANDLEN(TP 

S) >0THENPRINT"     ";:P0KE2 

04, 1: RETURN 

IFKIS=CHR$ (20)AHDLEN(TP 

S) >0THENTPS=LEFTS(TPS,L 

EN (TPS)-l) :GOTO950 

IFKI$=>CHRS (43) AHDKIS=< 

CHRS (57)THEN930     » 

IFNTTHENIFKI$=>CHRS (32) 

ANDKIS=<CHRS(90)THEN930 

GOTQ860 

IFLEN(TPS)= (LE)THENa60 

TPS=TP5+KI5 

PRINTKIS; :GOTO860 

INPUT#15,E1,ERS,E2,E3 

IFE1=0ORE1=S2ORE1=G3THS 

NCL0SE15:RET0RN 

CL0SE15:FL=1 

GO3UB830: PRINTTAB (9) "* 

[SPACE)*  *  DISK  ERROR  * 


KK  1000  PRINTTAB (10) "{DOWH)";E 


BE  820 


HF  830 


CM 
GM 


840 
850 


GS  360 


KM 
JF 


870 
380 


FR  890 


KR  900 


DB  910 


CA 

920 

PG 

930 

SD 

940 

HK 

950 

GQ 

960 

GF 

970 

XF 

980 

HC 

990 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        G-35 


PROGRAMS/ THE  AUTOMATIC  PROOFREADER 


BR  1010 


MB  1023 

EX  1030 
DA  1043 
PH  1050 


KH  1060 


RF  1070 


RF  1080 

QR  1090 
RR  1100 
BX  1110 


GQ  1120 


KB  1130 


1;ER$|E2;E3 

PRI«TTAB(3) "{DOWN}CHEC 

S  DISK  &  DRIVE,  THEN  T 

RY  AGAIN" 

PRINTTAB (7) "{DOHN}PRES 

S  ANY  KEY  TO  CONTINUE" 

GET05: IFD$=""THENl03a 

RETURH 

DATA  BLACK, WHITE, RED, C 

Y AN, PURPLE, GREEN, BLUE, 

YELLOW, ORANGE , BROWN, LI 

GHT  RED 

DATA  DARK  GRAY, MEDIUM 

{SPACE}GRAY, LIGHT  GREE 

N, LIGHT  BLUE, LIGHT  GRA 

Y 

DATA  44,3,60,3,102,254 

,165,244,237,245,0,0,3 

,0,0,0,0,3 

DATA  169,147,32,210,25 

5,169 

DATA  141,32,208,169 

DATA  141,33,208,169 

DATA  141,134,2,32,138, 

255,32,231,255,160,0,2 

4,152,12,160,8,32,240, 

255 

DATA  160,0,185,174,3,2 

40,6, 32,210,255,200,20 

3,245,169 

DATA  162,199,160,3,32, 

189,255,169,1,168,162, 

8,32,186,255,173,33,20 


PE  1140  DATA  141,134,2,169,0,3 

2,213,255,134,45, 132,4 

6,160 
MR  1150  DATA  185,215,3,153,119 

,2,136,16,247,169 
HP  1160  DATA  133,198,32,94,166 

,169,147,32,210,255,16 

9 
AJ  1170  DATA  141,134,2,162,128 

,103,2,3 

Bob  Markland  is  the  author  of  Electron- 
ic Billboard,  a  bonus  program  on  the 
March  Gazette  Disk.  He  lives  in 
Newcastle,  Wyoming. 

TELEWORD128 

Donald  G,  Klich 

Have  you  ever  watched  a  television  com- 
mercial and  been  asked  to  call  a  tele- 
phone number  that's  in  the  form  of  a 
catchy  phrase  for  the  advertiser's  prod- 
uct? A  financial  lender  might  want  you  to 
dial  CASH  NOW  for  a  quicl<;  loan,  or  per- 
haps an  automobile  dealer  might  tell  you 
to  call  1-800  CAR  DEAL  for  a  great  deal 
in  a  used  car. 

Except  for  numbers  1  and  0,  each  num- 
ber on  a  standard  U.S.  telephone  con- 

G-36        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


tains  a  group  of  three  letters.  All  the  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet  except  O  and  Zare 
represented.  So,  to  dial  CASH  NOW. 
you'd  press  the  numbers  that  correspond 
to  those  letters  on  the  dial.  In  this  exam- 
ple, those  numbers  would  be  2274669. 
Have  you  ever  wondered  if  the  letters 
associated  with  your  telephone  number 
might  spell  something  clever?  Rather 
than  trying  to  go  through  all  of  the  com- 
binations mentally,  Teleword  128  is  the 
program  you  need. 

Entering  the  Program 

Teleword  128  is  written  entirely  in  BA- 
SIC 7.0  for  the  128.  To  help  avoid  typ- 
ing errors,  enter  it  with  The  Automatic 
Proofreader,  which  can  be  found  else- 
where in  this  section.  Be  sure  to  save 
a  copy  of  the  program  before  you  try  to 
run  it. 

Number,  Please 

All  you  have  to  do  is  run  Teleword  128 
and  enter  a  seven-digit  number.  The 
program  will  print  out  or  display  on- 
screen every  combination  of  letters  pos- 
sible for  that  number.  In  case  you  are 
wondering,  the  maximum  number  of 
possibilities  is  2178.  {That's  3  to  the  sev- 
enth power.)  That  many  combinations 
will  fill  four  printed  pages  or  20 
screens. 

If  you  have  any  Os  or  Is  in  your  tel- 
ephone number,  you'll  end  up  with  few- 
er combinations  since  there  are  no  cor- 
responding letters  for  these  numbers. 

You  may  be  surprised  at  how  few 
good  word  combinations  turn  up.  I'm 
convinced  that  the  stores  first  devise  a 
clever  word/number  and  then  attempt 
to  get  that  number  from  the  telephone 
company.  That's  particularly  easy  to  do 
with  800  numbers. 

Just  in  case  you're  wondenng,  if  you 
have  telephone  number  266-7883. 
that's  the  one  that  spells  COMPUTE. 
Of  course,  it  also  spells  BOOSTUF. 
whatever  that  means! 

TELEWORD  128 

MS  10  REM  COPYRIGHT  1993  -  COM 
PUTE  PUBLICATION.?  INTL  L 
TD  -  ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

XD  20  DIMA5 (10,3) :FORI=0TO9:FO 
RJ=1T03:READB$:A$(I, J)=B 
5 : NEXT J, I; COLOR 0, 1: COLOR 
l,ll:COLOR4,l:GRAPHIC2,l 
,7:L=2:R=0:LS=2:RS=0 

SR  30  CHARl, 7, 4, "TELEPHONE  NUM 


XM  S0 


JM  90 
XP  100 

SD  110 


BER  CONVERTER":COLOR1,2: 
CIRCLEl, 160,35,120,15 

hd  40  input"cwht}output  to  the 
{red3p{wht}rinter  or 

[RED}T{WHT}UBE  P/T";Q5:I 
FQ$="T"THENSW=0:GOTO7  0 
FA  50  IFQS="P"THENSW=1:0PEN1,4 

lELSERUN 
JE  60  PRINT"(3  D0WN){CYN}BE  SU 
RE  THAT  YOUR  PRINTER  IS 
(SPACEjSET  TO  THE":PRINT 
SPC(ia)"TOP  OF  A  PAGE... 
{6}" 
DP  70  PRINT"(3  DOWN} (2  SPACES} 
WHAT  IS  THE  TELEPHONE  NU 
MBER{2  SPACES}NNNNNNN"; : 
SLEEP1:INPUT"{9  LEFT)";B 
5: IFLEN (B$) >70RLEN (B?) <7 
THENPRINT"{4  DOWN)SEVEN 
{SPACE}DIGITS  PLEASE":SL 
EEP1:RUN 

FDRI=1T07:CS«HID$(B$,I,1 
) :IFVAL(C$) <2THENN (I)=l: 
ELSEN (I)=3 
NEXTI 
IFSWTHENGOSUB160:GOTO11 
0:ELSEGOSUB200 
FORA=1TON (1)  :F0RB  =  1T0N  ( 
2)  :F0RC=1T0N  (3)  :F0RD  =  1T 
ON (4) :F0RE=1T0N (S) :FOHF 
=  1T0N  (6)  :F0RG  =  1T0N(7)  :T 
$=A${VAL(MID$(B5,1,1)  )  , 
A)+A$ (VAL(MID$(B$,2,1)  ) 
,B) 
HC  120  T$=T5+A${VAL (MIDS (BS,3, 
1) ) ,C)+A5(VAL(MID$(B$,4 
, 1) ) ,D) +AS (VAL (MID$ (B$, 
5,1) )  ,E)+AS(VAL{HID5 (B$ 
,6,1) ) ,F)+AS(VAL(HID$(B 
S,7,l)) ,Q) 

IFSWTHENGOSUB170:GOTO14 
0:ELSEGOSUB21fl 
NEXTG,F,E,D,C,B,A: IFSWG 
OTO190:ELSE250 
DATA0,0,0, 1,1,1,A,B,C,D 
,E,F,G,H,I, J,K,L,M,N,0, 
P,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y 
PRINT#1, "PRINTOUT  FOR  T 
ELEPHONE  NUMBER  "rLEFTS 
(B$,3) ;"-";RIGHT9(B$,4) 
:PRINT#1:RETURN 
PRINT#1,T5;"  ";:T=T+1:R 
=R+1 : IFR=10THENR=0 : prin 
T#1:L=L+1 

IFL=60THENFORL=1TO6:PRI 
NT#1:NEXTL:L  =  0: RETURN:  E 
LSERETURN 

PRINT#1:PRI NT #1, "THERE 
{SPACE)WERE  "T"  COMBINA 
TIONS":CLOSEl:END 
GRAPHIC0,1:PRINT"DISPLA 
y  OF  TELEPHONE  NUMBER  " 
;LEFTS(e$,3) ;"-";RIGHT$ 
(BS,4) :print:RETURN 
QG  210  Printt?;"  ";  :T=T  +  1:RS  =  R 
S+1:1FRS=5THENRS=0:PRIN 
T:LS=LS-H 


DS 

130 

EP 

140 

HE 

150 

BK 

160 

MM 

170 

JH 

180 

DJ 

190 

XR 

200 

KE  220  IFLS<>23THENRET0RN:ELSE 
LS=2:PRINT"PRESS  SPACE 
{SPACE}TO  CONTINUE" 

FD  230  GETKEYQS;IFQ$<>"  "THEN2 
30 

MM  240  GOSUB200:RETURN 

QB  250  PRINT:PRINT"THERE  WERE 
{SPACE}"T"  COMBINATIONS 
":END 

Donald  Klich  lives  In  Mount  Prospect, 
Illinois.  He  didn't  say  anything  about 
his  own  telephone  number.  3 


ONLY  ON  DISK 

In  addition  to  ihe  type-in  programs 
found  in  each  issue  of  the  magazine, 
Gazette  Disl<  offers  bonus  programs. 
Here's  a  special  program  that  you'll 
find  only  on  this  month's  disk. 

Football 

By  Jack  Rollan 
New  York,  NY 

Summer  is  drawing  to  a  close,  leaves 
are  beginning  to  change  color,  and 
back-to-school  sales  are  popping  up  at 
the  mall.  These  signs  can  mean  just 
one  thing:  FOOTBALL! 

Jack  Rollan's  Football  is  a  real- 
time, solitaire  football  simulation  that  al- 
lows users  to  design  their  own  plays 
and  then  attempt  to  execute  them  on 
the  field.  You'll  control  the  players  in 
the  yellow  and  white  uniforms  (the 
home  team)  with  your  joystick  in  port  2. 

Load  Football  with  the  ,8,1  exten- 
sion, and  then  type  SYS  49152  to 
start.  This  is  a  large  game,  and  it  takes 
several  minutes  to  load.  If  you  have  an 
accelerator  cartridge,  it'll  come  in 
handy  here. 

With  your  joystick,  you  design 
plays  to  run.  pass,  punt,  or  attempt 
field  goals.  After  the  center  hikes  the 
ball,  the  screen  changes  to  graphics 
mode.  At  this  point,  you  control  the 
quarterback  on  offense  or  the  free  safe- 
ty on  defense. 

You  can  have  this  program,  our 
PD  selections,  and  all  the  other  pro- 
grams in  this  issue  by  ordering  the  Sep- 
tember Gazette  Disk.  The  U.S.  price  is 
S9.95  plus  $2,00  shipping  and  han- 
dling. Send  your  order  to  Gazette 
Disk,  COMPUTE  Publications,  324 
West  Wendover  Avenue,  Suite  200, 
Greensboro,  North  Carolina  27408. 


The  Automatic  Proofreader  fielps  you 
type  in  program  listings  for  the  128  and 
64  and  prevents  nearly  every  kind  of 
typing  mistake. 

Type  in  Proofreader  exactly  as  list- 
ed. Because  the  program  can't  check 
itself,  be  sure  to  enter  each  line  care- 
fully to  avoid  typographical  errors  or  oth- 
er mistakes.  Don't  omit  any  lines,  even 
if  they  contain  unusual  commands.  Af- 
ter you've  finished,  save  a  copy  of  the 
program  before  running  it. 

Next,  type  RUN  and  press  Return.  Af- 
ter the  program  displays  the  message 
Proofreader  Active,  you're  ready  to 
type  in  a  BASIC  program. 

Every  time  you  finish  typing  a  iine 
and  press  Return,  Proofreader  displays 
a  two-letter  checksum  in  the  upper  left 
corner  of  the  screen.  Compare  this  re- 
sult with  the  two-letter  checksum  print- 
ed to  the  left  of  the  line  in  the  program 
listing.  If  the  letters  match,  the  line  prob- 
ably was  typed  correctly.  If  not,  check 
for  your  mistake  and  correct  the  line.  Al- 
so, be  sure  not  to  skip  any  lines. 

Proofreader  ignores  spaces  not  en- 
closed in  quotation  marks,  so  you  can 
omit  or  add  spaces  between  keywords 
and  still  see  a  matching  checksum. 
Spaces  inside  quotes  are  almost  al- 
ways significant,  so  the  program  pays 
attention  to  them. 

Proofreader  does  not  accept  key- 
word abbreviations  (for  example.  ?  in- 
stead of  PRINT),  If  you  use  abbrevi- 
ations, you  can  still  check  the  line  by 
listing  it,  moving  the  cursor  back  to  the 
line,  and  pressing  Return. 

If  you're  using  Proofreader  on  the 
128,  do  not  perform  any  GRAPHIC  com- 
mands while  Proofreader  is  active. 
When  you  perform  a  command  like 
GRAPHIC  1,  the  computer  moves  eve- 
rything at  the  start  of  BASIC  program 
space — including  the  Proofreader — to 
another  memory  area,  causing  Proof- 
reader to  crash.  The  same  thing  hap- 
pens if  you  run  any  program  with  a 
GRAPHIC  command  while  Proofreader 
is  in  memory 

Though  Proofreader  doesn't  interfere 
with  other  BASIC  operations,  it's  a 
good  idea  to  disable  it  before  running 
another  program.  To  disable  it,  turn  the 
computer  off  and  then  on.  A  gentler 
method  is  to  SYS  to  the  computer's 
built-in  reset  routine  (65341  for  the  128. 
64738  for  the  64). 


AUTOMATIC  PROOFREADER 

0  CLR 

10  VE=PEEK(772)+256*PEEK(773) : 
LO=43:H 1=44: PRINT" (CLR) 
{WHT} AUTOMATIC  PROOFREADER 
(SPACE) FOR  "; 
20  IF  VE=42364  THEN  PRINT  "64" 
30  IF  VE=17165  THEN  LO=45:HI=4 

6:WAIT  CLR:PRINT"128" 
40  SA= (PEEK(LQ>+256*PEEK(HI) )+ 
6:F0R  J=SA  TO  SA+166:READ  B 
:POKE  J,B:CH=CH+B:NEXT 
50  IF  CH<>2a570  THEN  PRIHT  "*E 
RROR*  CHECK  TYPING  IN  DATA 
(SPACE) STATEMENTS": END 
60  FOR  J=l  TO  5:READ  RF,LF,HF: 
RS=SAtRF:HB=IHT (RS/256) :LB= 
RS- (256*HB) 
70  CH=CH+8F+LF+HF:P0KE  SA+LF,L 

B:POKE  SA+HF,HB:NEXT 
80  IF  CHO22054  THEN  PRINT  "*S 
RROR*  RELOAD  PROGRAM  AND  CH 
ECK  FINAL  LINE";END 
90  IF  VE  =  ni65  THEN  POKE  SA  +  14 
,22:POKE  SA+-18,23:POKESA  +  29 
,224:POKESA+139,224 
100  POKE  SA+149,PEEK(772) :POKE 
SA+150,PEEK(773) :PRINT" 
{CLR}PROOFREADER  ACTIVE" 
110  SYS  SA:POKE  HI,PEEKCHI)+1: 
POKE  (PEEK(LO) +256*PEEK(HI 
) ) -1,0: NEW 
123  DATA120,169,73,141,4,3,169 
,3,141,5,3,88,96,165,20,13 
3,167 
133  DATA165,21,i33,168,169,0,l 
41,0,2  55,16  2,31,181,199,15 
7,227 
140  DATA3, 202, 16, 248, 169, 19, 32 
,210,255,169,18,32,219,25  5 
,160 
150  DATA0, 132, 180, 132, 176, 136, 
230,180,200,185,0,2,24  0,46 
,201 
160  DATA34,208,8,72,165,176,73 
,255,133,176,104,72,201,32 
,208 
170  DATA7, 165, 176,208,3,104,20 
a, 226, 104, 166, 180, 24, 165,1 
67 
180  DATA121, 0,2, 133, 167,  165,16 
8,105,0,13  3,16  8,20  2,208,23 
9,240 
190  DATA202,165,167,69,168,72, 
41,15,168,185,211,3,32,210 
,255 
200  DATAl04,74,74,74,74,168,ia 
5,211,3,32,210,255,162,31, 
189 
210  DATA227,3,149,199,202,16,2 
48,169,146,32,210,255,76,8 
6,137 
220  DATA65,66,67,6a,69,70,71,7 

2,74,75,77,80,81,82,83,88 
230  DATA  13,2,7,167,31,32,151, 
116,117,151,128,129,167,13 
6,137  a 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE       6-37 


m 


Machine  Language  Entry  Program 
MLX  for  Commodore  64 
Ottis  R.  Cowper 


Type  in  and  save  some  copies  of 
MLX — you'll  want  to  use  it  to  enter  fu- 
ture ivlll  programs  from  Gazette.  Whien 
you're  ready  to'enter  an  ML  program, 
load  and  run  MLX.  It  asks  you  for  a  start- 
ing address  and  an  ending  address. 
Tfiese  addresses  appear  in  tfie  article 
accompanying  thie  MLX-format  pro- 
gram listing  you're  typing. 

If  you're  unfamiliar  withi  macfiine  lan- 
guage, the  addresses  {and  all  other  val- 
ues you  enter  in  MLX}  may  appear 
strange.  Instead  of  tfie  usual  decimal 
numbers  you're  accustomed  to,  these 
numbers  are  in  hexadecimal — a  base 
16  numbering  system  commonly  used 
by  ML  programmers.  Hexadecimal — 
hex  for  short — includes  the  numerals  0- 
9  and  the  letters  A-F.  But  even  if  you 
know  nothing  about  ML  or  hex,  you 
should  have  no  trouble  using  MLX. 

After  you've  entered  the  starting  and 
ending  addresses,  you'll  be  offered  the 
option  of  clearing  the  workspace. 
Choose  this  option  if  you're  starting  to 
enter  a  new  listing.  If  you're  continuing 
a  listing  that's  partially  typed  from  a  pre- 
vious session,  don't  choose  this  option. 
A  functions  menu  will  appear.  The  first 
option  in  the  menu  is  Enter  Data.  If 
you're  just  starting  to  type  in  a  pro- 
gram, pick  this.  Press  the  E  key  and 
type  the  first  number  in  the  first  line  of 
the  program  listing.  If  you've  already 
typed  in  part  of  a  program,  type  the 
line  number  where  you  stopped  typing 
at  the  end  of  the  previous  session  (be 
sure  to  load  the  partially  completed  pro- 
gram before  you  resume  entry),  In  any 
case,  make  sure  the  address  you  en- 
ter corresponds  to  the  address  of  a 
line  in  the  listing  you  are  entering.  Oth- 
erwise, you'll  be  unable  to  enter  the  da- 
ta correctly.  If  you  pressed  E  by  mis- 
take, you  can  return  to  the  command 
menu  by  pressing  Return  alone  when 
asked  for  the  address.  (You  can  get 
back  to  the  menu  from  most  options  in 
the  program  by  pressing  Return  with 
no  other  input.) 

Enfering  a  Listing 

Once  you're  in  Enter  nnode,  MLX 
prints  the  address  for  each  program 
line  for  you.  You  then  type  in  all  nine 
numbers  on  that  line,  beginning  with 
the  first  two-digit  number  after  the  co- 
lon {:).  Each  line  represents  eight  data 
bytes  and  a  checksum.  Although  an 

G-38        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


MLX-format  listing  appears  similar  to 
the  "hex  dump"  listings  from  a  ma- 
chine language  monitor  program,  the 
extra  checksum  number  on  the  end  al- 
lows MLX  to  check  your  typing. 

When  you  enter  a  line,  MLX  recalcu- 
lates the  checksum  from  the  eight 
bytes  and  the  address  and  compares 
this  value  to  the  number  from  the  ninth 
column.  If  the  values  match,  you'll 
hear  a  bell  tone,  the  data  will  be  add- 
ed to  the  workspace  area,  and  the 
prompt  for  the  next  line  of  data  will  ap- 
pear. But  if  MLX  detects  a  typing  error, 
you'll  hear  a  low  buzz  and  see  an  er- 
ror message.  The  line  will  then  be  re- 
displayed for  editing. 

Invalid  Characters  Banned 

Only  a  few  keys  are  active  while  you're 
entering  data,  so  you  may  have  to  un- 
learn some  habits.  You  do  no!  type 
spaces  between  the  columns;  MLX  au- 
tomatically inserts  these  for  you.  You 
do  not  press  Return  after  typing  the 
last  number  in  a  line;  MLX  automatical- 
ly enters  and  checks  the  line  after  you 
type  the  last  digit. 


64  MLX 

Keypad 

7 

8 

9 

0 

A 

; 

6 

F 

V 

I 

() 

V 

1 

2 

3 

E 

.) 

K 

L 

A 

It 

C 

D 

M 

• 

• 

/ 

N 

0 

Space 

Only  the  numerals  0-9  and  the  letters 
A-F  can  be  entered.  If  you  press  any 
other  key  (with  some  exceptions  noted 
below),  you'll  hear  a  warning  buzz.  To 
simplify  typing,  a  numeric  keypad  func- 
tion is  included.  The  keypad  is  active 
only  while  entering  data.  Addresses 
must  be  entered  with  the  normal  letter 
and  number  keys.  The  figure  below 
shows  the  keypad  configuration. 
MLX  checks  for  transposed  charac- 
ters. If  you're  supposed  to  type  in  AO 


and  instead  enter  OA,  MLX  will  catch 
your  mistake.  There  is  one  error  that 
can  slip  past  MLX:  Because  of  the 
checksum  formula  used,  MLX  won't  no- 
tice if  you  accidentally  type  FF  in 
place  of  00,  and  vice  versa.  And 
there's  a  very  slim  chance  that  you 
could  garble  a  line  and  still  end  up 
with  a  combination  of  characters  that 
adds  up  to  the  proper  checksum.  How- 
ever, these  mistakes  should  not  occur 
if  you  take  care  while  entering  data. 

Editing  Features 

To  correct  typing  mistakes  before  fin- 
ishing a  line,  use  the  Inst/Del  key  to  de- 
lete the  character  to  the  left  of  the  cur- 
sor. If  you  mess  up  a  line  badly,  press 
CIr/Home  to  start  the  line  over.  The  Re- 
turn key  is  also  active,  but  only  before 
any  data  is  typed  on  a  line.  Pressing  Re- 
turn at  this  point  returns  you  to  the  com- 
mand menu,  After  you  type  a  charac- 
ter, MLX  disables  Return  until  the  cur- 
sor returns  to  the  start  of  a  line.  Remem- 
ber, press  CIr/Home  to  quickly  get  to  a 
line-number  prompt.  To  make  correc- 
tions in  a  line  that  MLX  has  redisplayed 
for  editing,  compare  the  line  on  the 
screen  with  the  one  printed  in  the  list- 
ing and  then  move  the  cursor  to  the  mis- 
take and  type  the  correct  key.  The  cur- 
sor- left  and  -right  keys  provide  the 
normal  cursor  controls.  (The  Inst/Del 
key  now  works  as  an  alternative  cursor- 
left  key.)  You  cannot  move  left  beyond 
the  first  character  in  the  line.  If  you  try 
to  move  beyond  the  rightmost  charac- 
ter, you'll  reenter  the  line,  During  edit- 
ing, Return  is  active;  pressing  it  tells 
MLX  to  recheck  the  line.  You  can 
press  the  CIr/Home  key  to  clear  the  en- 
tire line  if  you  want  to  start  from 
scratch  or  if  you  want  to  get  to  a  line- 
number  prompt  to  use  Return  to  get 
back  to  the  menu. 

Display  Data 

The  second  menu  choice,  Display  Da- 
ta, examines  memory  and  shows  the 
contents  in  the  same  format  as  the  pro- 
gram listing  (including  the  checksum}. 
When  you  press  D,  MLX  asks  you  for  a 
starting  address,  Be  sure  that  the  start- 
ing address  you  give  corresponds  to  a 
line  number  in  the  listing.  Otherwise, 
the  checksum  display  will  be  meaning- 
less. MLX  displays  program  lines  until 
it  reaches  the  end  of  the  program,  at 


which  point  the  menu  is  redisplayed. 
You  can  pause  the  display  by  pressing 
the  space  bar.  (MLX  finishes  printing 
the  current  line  before  halting.)  Press 
the  space  bar  again  to  restart  the  dis- 
play To  break  out  of  the  display  and 
get  back  to  the  menu  before  the  end- 
ing address  is  reached,  press  Return. 

Other  Menu  Options 

Two  more  menu  selections  let  you 
save  programs  and  load  them  back  in- 
to the  computer.  These  are  Save  File 
and  Load  File.  When  you  press  S  or  L, 
f\yiLX  asks  you  for  the  filename.  You'll 
then  be  asked  to  press  either  D  or  T  to 
select  disk  or  tape. 

You'll  notice  the  disk  drive  starting 
and  stopping  several  times  during  a 
load  or  save.  This  is  normal  behavior. 
MIX  opens  and  reads  from  or  writes  to 
the  file  instead  of  using  the  usual 
LOAD  and  SAVE  commands.  Also 
note  that  the  drive  prefix  0:  is  added  to 
the  filename  (line  750),  so  this  should 
no!  be  included  when  entering  the 
name.  This  also  precludes  the  use  of 
@  for  save-with-replace,  so  be  sure  to 
give  each  version  saved  a  different 
name. 

Remember  that  MLX  saves  the  en- 
tire workspace  area  from  the  starting  ad- 
dress to  the  ending  address,  so  the 
save  or  load  may  take  longer  than  you 
might  expect  if  you've  entered  only  a 
small  amount  of  data  from  a  long  list- 
ing. When  you're  saving  a  partially  com- 
pleted listing,  make  sure  to  note  the  ad- 
dress where  you  stopped  typing. 

MLX  reports  the  standard  disk  or 
tape  error  messages  if  any  problems 
are  detected  during  the  save  or  load. 
It  also  has  three  special  load  error  mes- 
sages: INCORRECT  STARTING  AD- 
DRESS, which  means  the  file  you're  try- 
ing to  load  does  not  have  the  starting 
address  you  specified  when  you  ran 
MLX;  LOAD  ENDED  AT  address. 
which  means  the  file  you're  trying  to 
load  ends  before  the  ending  address 
you  specified  when  you  started  MLX; 
and  TRUNCATED  AT  ENDING  AD- 
DRESS, which  means  the  file  you're  try- 
ing to  load  extends  beyond  the  ending 
address  you  specified  when  you  start- 
ed MLX.  If  you  see  one  of  these  mes- 
sages and  fee!  certain  that  you've  load- 
ed the  right  file,  exit  and  rerun  MLX, 
being  careful  to  enter  the  correct  start- 


ing and  ending  addresses. 

The  Quit  menu  option  has  the  obvi- 
ous effect — it  stops  MLX  and  enters  BA- 
SIC. The  Run/Stop  key  is  disabled,  so 
the  Q  option  lets  you  exit  the  program 
without  turning  off  the  computer.  {Of 
course,  Run/Stop-Restore  also  gets 
you  out.)  You'll  be  asked  for  verifica- 
tion; press  Y  to  exit  to  BASIC,  or  press 
any  other  key  to  return  to  the  menu.  Af- 
ter quitting,  you  can  type  RUN  again 
and  reenter  MLX  without  losing  your  da- 
ta, as  long  as  you  don't  use  the  Clear 
Workspace  option. 

The  Finished  Product 

When  you've  finished  typing  all  the  da- 
ta for  an  ML  program  and  saved  your 
work,  you're  ready  for  the  results.  Re- 
fer to  the  corresponding  article  for 
details  on  loading  and  running  the 
program, 

An  Ounce  of  Prevention 

Don't  take  chances — use  The  Automat- 
ic Proofreader  to  type  the  new  MLX, 
and  then  test  your  copy  thoroughly  be- 
fore first  using  it  to  enter  any  significant 
amount  of  data.  Make  sure  all  the 
menu  options  work  as  they  should.  En- 
ter fragments  of  the  program  starting  at 
several  different  addresses;  then  use 
the  display  option  to  verify  that  the  da- 
ta has  been  entered  correctly.  Test  the 
save  and  load  options  to  ensure  that 
you  can  recall  your  work  from  disk. 


64  MLX 


SS  10  REM  VERSION  1.1: 
30,950  MODIFIED, 
85-487  ADDED 
EK  100  POKE  56,50:CLR: 

I,J,A,B,AS,BS,R 
DM  110  C4=48:C6=16:C7 

4-254:Z5=255:Z6 

127 
CJ  120  Fft=PEEK(45)+Z6* 

:BS=PEEK(55)+Z6 

) :HS="012345678 
SB  130  RS=CHRS(13) :LS- 

:SS="  ":dS=Chr9 
CHR$(0) :T$="{13 

CQ  140  SD=S4272:FOR  I 
+23:POKE  I,0SNE 
{SPACE}SD+24,15 
8,52 

FC  150  PRINT" (CLR}"CHR 
RS (8) :POKE  5328 
E  53281,15 

EJ  160  PRINT  TS"  (RED) 
{2  SPACES}-t8  @} 


LINES  8 
LINES  4 

DIM  IN$, 
(7) ,N$ 
7:z2=2:z 
='256:Z7  = 

PEEK(46) 
*PEEK(56 
9ABCDEF" 

"Cleft}" 
(20) :z$= 
RIGHT)" 
SD  TO  SD 
XT:  POKE 
:POKE  78 

$(142)CH 
0,15:POK 

{RVS) 


{2  SPACES}"SPC(2B) " 
{2  SPACES}{OFF}{BLU)  ML 
X  ir  {RED} {RVS} 
{2  SPACES}"SPC(28) " 
{12  SPACES) {BLU}" 
FR  170  PRINT" {3  DOWN) 

(3  SPACES}C0HPUTE1 'S  MA 
CHINE  LANGUAGE  EDITOR 
(3  DOWN}" 

JB  180  print"{blk5starting  add 

RES.'3t4>";  :GOSUB300  :  SA  =  A 
D:GOSUB1040:IF  F  THEN18 
0 

GF  190  PRINT"{BLK} {2  SPACES}EN 
DING  ADDRESS<4}"; :GOSUB 
300:EA=AD:GOSUB103n: IF 
{SPACE}F  THEN190 

KR  200  INPt;T"{3  DOWN}{BLK}CLEA 
R  WORKSPACE  [Y/N]{4}";A 
S:IF  LEFTS (A$,1)<>"Y"TH 
EN220 

PG  210  PRINT"{2  DOWN} { BLU }WORK 
ING. . ."; ;FORI=BS  TO  BS+ 
EA-SA+7:P0KE  I,0:NEXT:P 
RINT"DONE" 

DR  220  PRINTTAB (10) "{2  DOWN) 
{BLK}(RVS}  MLX  COMMAND 
{SPACE}MENU  {DQWN)i4}": 
PRINT  TS"{RVS)E{OFF}NTE 
R  DATA" 

BD  230  PRINT  TS" { RVS 3d {OFF } ISP 
LAY  DATA": PRINT  TS" 
{RVS}L(0FF}0AD  FILE" 

JS  240  PRINT  TS"{RVS3S{0FF}AVE 
FILE":PRINT  TS"{RVS)Q 
{0FF}UIT{2  D0WN}{BLK3" 
GET  A?:IF  AS=NS  THEN250 
A=a:FOR  1=1  TO  5:IP  AS= 
MID$("EDLSQ",I,1)THEN  A 
=I:I=5 

NEXTtON  A  GOTO420,610,6 
9a,7  00,280:GOSUBl060;GO 
TO250 

PRINT"(RVS}  QUIT  ":INPU 
T"{D0WN}<4JARE  YOU  SURE 
lY/N] ";A5:IF  LEFT5(A$, 
1) <>"Y"THEN220 
POKE  SD+24,0:END 
INS=NS:AD=0:INPUTINS:IF 
LEN  (IN$)  04THENRETURN 
BS=IN$:GOSUB320:AD=A:BS 
=MIDS(IN$,3) :GOSUB320:A 
D=AD*256+A:RETURN 
A=0:FOR  J=l  TO  2:AS=MID 
S (BS,J,1) :B=ASC (A?) ~C4+ 
(AS>"@")*C7:A=A*C6+B 
IF  B<0  OR  B>15  THEN  AD= 
0:A=-1:J=2 
NEXT: RETURN 

B=INT (A/C6) :PRINT  MID$ ( 
H$,B+1,1) ; ;B=A-B*C6:PRI 
NT  MID$ (H$,B+1,1) ; :RETO 
RN 

RR  360  A=INT (AD/Z6) :GOSUB350: A 
=AD-A*Z6:G0SUB 350: PRINT 

fi  .  II  . 
"  f 

BE  370  CK=INT (AD/Z6) :CK=AD-Z4* 

CK+Z5* (CK>Z7) :GOTO390 

SEPTEMBER  1993  COMPUTE   G-39 


JH 

250 

HK 

260 

FD 

273 

EJ 

280 

EM 

290 

JX 

300 

KF 

310 

PP 

320 

JA 

330 

GX 

340 

CH 

350 

MLX 


PX  380  CK=CK*Z2+Z5* (CK>Z7)+fl 
JC  390  CK=CK+Z5*{CK>Z5) :RETURN 
QS  400  PRINT" {DOWN}STARTING  AT 

{4^'; :GOSUB3B0:IF  IN$<> 

MS  THEN  GOSUB1030:IF  F 

{SPACE}THEN4a0 
EX  410  RETURN 
HD  420  PRINT" {RVS}  ENTER  DATA 

(SPACE}":GOSUB400: IF  IN 

$=N$  THEN22B 
JK  430  OPEN3,3:PRINT 
SK  440  POKE198,0:GOSUB360:IF  F 
THEN  PRINT  INS: PRINT" 

{aP}{5  RIGHT}"; 
GC  450  FOR  1=0  TO  24  STEP  3:BS 

=SS:FOR  J=l  TO  2:IF  F  T 

HEN  BS=MID$ (IN$,I+J,1) 
HA  460  PRINT"CRVS}"B$L$; :IF  I< 

24THEN  PRINT'MOFF}"; 
HD  470  GET  AS:1F  AS=N$  THEN470 
FK  480  IF(AS>"/"ANDA$<":")OR(A 

$>"@"ANDAS<"G")THEN540 
GS  485  A=- (AS="M") -2*(AS=",") - 

3*(,AS  =  ".")-4*(A5="/")  -5 

* (AS="J") -6* (A$="K") 
FX  486  A=A-7*(AS="L")-8*(A5=": 

")-9*(A$="U")-10*(A5="I 

")-ll*(A$="0")-12*{A$=" 

P") 
CM  487  A=A-13*{A$=S$) :IF  A  THE 

N  A5=MID$ ("ABCD123E456F 

0",A,1) :GOTO  540 
HP  490  IF  h$  =  -R$    AND  ((1=0)  AND  (J 

=1>0R  F)THEN  PRINT  BS ; : 

J=2:NEXT:I=24:GOTO550 
KC  500  IF  A5="{H0ME)"  THEN  PRI 

NT  BS: J=2:NEXT:I=24:NEX 

T:F=0:GOTO440 
MX  510  IF(A$="{RIGHT}") ANDF  TH 

ENPRINT  B5L$; :GOTO540 
GK  520  IF  A$<>L$  AND  A$<>DS  OR 

( (I=0)AHD(J=1))THEN  GOS 

UB1060;GOTO470 
HG  530  A$=LS+SS+LS:PRINT  B$L$; 

:J=2-J:IF  J  THEN  PRINT 

{SPACE}L5; :l=l-3 

QS  540  PRINT  A$;:NEXT  J:PRINT 
{SPACE}S5; 

PM  550  NEXT  I: PRINT: PRINT" {UP} 
{5  RIGHT}"; :INPUT#3,IN$ 
:IF  IN$=NS  THEN  CLOSES: 
GOTO220 

QC  560  FOR  1=1  TO  25  STEP3:BS= 
MID$(INS,I) :GOSUB320:IF 
I<25  THEN  GOSUB380:A(I 
/3)=A 

PK    S70    NEXT:  IF    ROCK   THEN    GOSU 
B 1 060 : PRINT" {BLK}{ RVS} 
{SPACE}ERR0R:     REENTER    L 
INE    <4>":F=1:GOTO440 

HJ  580  GOSOB1080:B=BS4AD-SA:FO 
R  1=0  TO  7:P0KE  B+I,A(I 
) :NEXT 

QQ  590  AD=AD+8:IF  AD>EA  THEN  C 
L0SE3:PRINT"(D0WN} {BLU} 
**  END  OF  ENTRY  **{BLK) 
[2    DOWN}":GOTO700 

GQ  600  F=0:GOTO440 


QA  610  PRINT"{CLR} {DOWN} {RVS} 
{SPACE}DISPLAY  DATA  ":G 
OSUB400:IF  IN$=N$  THEN2 
20 

RJ  620  PRINT" {DOWN} {BLU}PRESS: 
{RVS} SPACE {OFF}  TO  PAU 
SE,  {RVS} RETURN {OFF}  TO 
BREAK<4}{D0WN}" 

KS  630  GOSUB36{!l:B=BS+AD-SA:FOR 
I=BTO  B+7:A=PESK(I) xGOfi 
UB350:GOSUB3a0:PRINT  S$ 

r 

CC  640  NEXT:PRINT"{RVS}"; :A=CK 

:GOSUB350:PRINT 
KH  650  F»1:AD=AD+8:IF  AD>EA  TH 

ENPRINT"{DOWN} {BLU}**  E 

ND  OF  DATA  **":GOTO220 
KC  660  GET  A$:IF  A$=R$  THEN  GO 

SUB1080:GOTO220 
EQ  670  IF  A$=SS  THEN  F-F+1:G0S 

UB1080 
AD  680  ONFGOTO630,660,630 
CM  690  PRINT"{DOWN} {RVS}  LOAD 

{SPACE}DATA  ":0P=1:G0T0 

710 
PC  700  PRINT"{D0WN} {RVS}  SAVE 

{SPACE}FILE  ":OP=0 
RX  710  IN$=NS:INPUT"{DOWN}FILE 

NAHE<4}"; IN$:IF  IN$=NS 

{SPACE}THEN220 
PR  720  F=0:PRINT"{DOWN}{BLK} 

{RVS}T{0FF}APE  OR  {RVS} 

D{0FF}ISK:  {4}"; 
FP  730  GET  A$:IF  A$="T"THEN  PR 

INT"T{DOWN}":GOTO8fl0 
HQ  740  IF  A$<>"D"THEN730 
HH  750  PRINT"D{DOWN}":OPEN15,8 

,15,"I0:":B=EA-SA: INS=" 

0:"+INS:IF  OP  THEN810 
SQ  760  OPEN  1,8,8,IN$+",P,W":G 

OSUB860:IF  a  THEN220 
FJ  770  AH  =  INT  (SA/256)  :AL  =  SA-(A 

H * 256 ): PRINT! 1,CHR$ (AL) 

;CHR$ (AH) ; 
PE  780  FOR  1=0  TO  B:PRINT#1,CH 

R5  (PEEK(BS  +  I) ) ; :IF  ST  T 

HEN800 
FC    790    NEXT:CLOSE1:CLOSE15:GOT 

0940 
GS    800    GOSUB1060:PRINT"{DOWN) 

{BLK}ERROR    DURING    SAVE: 

<4}":GOSUB860!GOTO220 
MA    810    OPEN    1,8,B,INS+",P,R":G 

OSUB860:IF    A    THEN220 
GE    B20    GET#1,AS,B$:AD=ASC(AS+Z 

S)+256*ASC{BS+ZS) : IF    AD 

OSA    THEN    F  =  l:GOTOa50 
RX    830    FOR    1=0   TO    B:GET#1,AS:P 

OKE    BS+I,ASC(A$+Z5) :IF( 

I<>B)AND    ST    THEN    F=2:AD 

=I:I=B 
FA    840    NEXTlIF    ST064    THEN    F  =  3 
FQ    850    CL0EE1:CL0SE15:0N    ADS (F 

>0)+l    GOTO960,970 
SA    860    INPUT#15,A,A$:IF    A   THEN 
CLOSE 1; CLOSE 15 :GOSUB10 

60; PRINT" {RVS} ERROR:     "A 

5 


GQ  870  RETURN 

EJ  880  POKEl83,PEEK(FA+2) :POKE 
187,PEEK(FA+3) :P0KE188, 
PEEK (FA+4) : IFOP=0THEN92 
0 
HJ  890  SYS  63466:IF(PEEK(783) A 
NDDTHEN  GOSUB1060:PRIN 
T"{DOWN} {RVS}  FILE  NOT 
{SPACE} FOUND  ":GOTO690 
CS  900  AD=PEEK(829}+256*PEEK(8 
30):IF  ADOSA  THEN  F  =  l: 
GOTO970 
SC  910  A=PEEK(831)4256*PEEK(83 
2) -i:F=F-2* (A<EA) -3* (A> 
EA) :AD=A-AD:GOTO930 
KM  920  A=SA:B=EA+1:GOSUB1010:P 

OKE780,3:SYS    63338 
JF    930    A=BS:B=BS+ (EA~SA)+1:G0S 
UB1010:ON   OP    GOTO950:Sy 
S    63591 
AE    940    GOSUB1080:PRINT"{BLU}** 
SAVE    COMPLETED    **":GOT 
0220 
XP    950    POKE147,0:SYS    63562:IF 

{SPACE}ST>0    THEN970 
FR    960    GOSUB1080:PRINT"{BLU}** 
LOAD   COMPLETED    **":GOT 
0220 
DP    970    GOSUB1060:PRINT"{BLK} 

{RVS}ERR0R    DURING    LOAD: 
{D0WN}<4>":ON    F   GOSUB98 
0,990,1000:GOTO220 
PP    980    PRINT"INCORRECT    STARTIN 
G    ADDRESS     (" ; :GOSUB360: 
PRINT") ":RETURN 
GR    990    PRINT"LOAD    ENDED    AT    ";: 
AD=SA+AD:GOSUB3  60:PRINT 
D$: RETURN 
FD    1000    PRINT"TRUNCATED    AT    END 

ING    ADDRESS":RETURN 
RX    1010    AH=INT (A/256) :AL=A-(AH 
*256) :POKE193,AL:POKEl 
94,  AH 
FF    1020    AH=INT (B/256) :AL=5-(AH 
*256) : POKE  174, AL: POKE 1 
75,AH:RETURN 
PX    1030    IF    AD<SA    OR    AD>EA    THEN 

1050 
OR    1040    IF     (AD>5H    AND    AD<6528 
0)     THEN    GOSUBl0a0:     F=0 
:     RETURN 
HC    1050    GOSUB1060:PRINT"{RVS} 
{SPACE}INVALID    ADDRESS 
{D0WN}{BLK}":F=1:RETU 
RN 
AR    1060    POKE    SD+5,31:POKE    SD+6 
,208:POKE    SD,240:POKE 
{SPACE}SD+1,4:P0KE    SD+ 
4,33 
DX    1070    FOR    S=l    TO    100:NEXT:GO 

TO1090 
PF  1080  POKE  SD+5,8:P0KE  SD+6, 
240:POKE  SD,0:POKE  SD+ 
1,90:POKE  SD+4,17 
AC  1090  FOR  S=l  TO  100 : NEXT :P0 
KE  SD+4,0:POKE  SD,0:PO 
KE    SD+1,0: RETURN 


G-40        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


REVIEWS 


GATEWAY  2000 
NOMAD  450DXL 
NOTEBOOK 

Gateway's  new  Nomad 
450DXL  was  designed  and 
built  specifically  for  power  us- 
ers who  want  all  the  muscle 
usually  found  in  a  high-end 
desktop  PC  but  who  also 
want  tfie  convenience  and 
mobility  of  a  notebook  com- 
puter. If  you're  one  of  those 
users,  the  Nomad  is  what 
you've  been  waiting  for. 
Weighing  less  than  6 
pounds  and  measuring  8,5 
X  11  X  1.8  inches,  it  tucks 
easily  under  your  arm  or  in  a 
briefcase. 

The  CPU  is  an  Intel 
80486DXLP2/50,  a  new 
chip  that  consumes  less  pow- 
er (hence  the  LP  designa- 
tion) than  conventional  DX2 
CPUs.  This  low-power  CPU, 
combined  with  Gateway's 
other  power-management 
features,  gives  the  Nomad 
excellent  nicad  battery  life 
(more  than  two  hours,  even 
under  heavy  use)  between 
recharges. 

The  dark,  charcoal  gray 
color  and  squared,  no-frills 
styling  give  the  Nomad  a 
bold,  handsome  appear- 
ance that  would  be  equally 
at  home  on  an  airline  seat- 
back  tray  or  on  a 
boardroom  conference  ta- 
ble. A  custom,  color-coordi- 
nated, miniature  hand-held 
trackball  provides  a  supple 
and  surprisingly  easy-to-use 
pointing  device  for  navigat- 
ing your  way  around  Win- 
dows (included  with  the  com- 
puter) or  other  GUI-based 
applications.  The  trackball 
connects  to  a  dedicated 
mouse  port  at  the  left  side 
of  the  machine  via  a  two- 
foot  cable. 

The  Nomad's  10-inch 
LCD  {measured  diagonally) 
is  a  backlit,  triple  supertwist 


unit  that  affords  good  view- 
ing in  all  lighting  conditions, 
although  some  of  the  LCD's 
pathways  are  visible  when 
the  brightness  or  contrast 
controls  (dials  located  at  the 
right  of  the  display)  are 
turned  all  the  way  up.  Under 
most  conditions  this  isn't  nec- 
essary, however,  and  on  the 


tions,  although  the  LCD's 
pathways  become  more  pro- 
nounced in  the  reversed-vid- 
eo  mode. 

The  Nomad  comes  outfit- 
ted with  mB  of  RAM  as  the 
standard  configuration,  and 
this  can  be  expanded  to 
20fylB  if  you  need  more  mem- 
ory. A  fast  Conner  200MB 


Gateway  2000's  Nomad  450DXL  notebook  uses  a  new  low-power 
version  of  the  486DX2/50  processor  chip. 


whole  the  display  is  quite 
good.  The  Nomad  is  capa- 
ble of  displaying  up  to  64 
shades  of  gray  in  normal 
VGA  (640  X  480)  mode. 
With  an  external  monitor  con- 
nected, the  Nomad  can  pro- 
vide 800  x  600  and  1024x 
768  SVGA  resolutions  as 
well,  and  it  supports  simulta- 
neous display  of  the  LCD 
and  CRT.  A  unique  feature 
of  the  Nomad  is  its  screen  in- 
version switch,  also  located 
next  to  the  LCD.  By  chang- 
ing the  position  of  this 
switch,  you  can  reverse  the 
video  display  from  its  nor- 
mal dark-on-light  display  to 
light-on-dark.  This  affords  bet- 
ter viewing  for  some  applica- 


hard  drive  is  also  standard 
equipment  on  this  model,  as 
is  a  front-mounted  1.44MB 
high-density  floppy  drive. 

LEDs  are  used  to  inform 
the  user  of  the  system's  stat- 
us, and  they're  all  located  in 
a  line  just  above  the  upper- 
most keyboard  row.  Power, 
low-battery  condition,  turbo 
mode,  floppy  and  hard  disk 
activity,  and  Caps  Lock, 
Num  Lock,  and  Scroll  Lock 
status  are  all  signified  by 
this  bank  of  helpful  light-emit- 
ting diodes. 

All  the  I/O  ports  are  con- 
cealed beneath  a  drop- 
down panel  door  on  the  left 
side  of  the  machine,  while  a 
Microsoft-compatible  Quick- 


Port  is  found  at  the  right 
side  for  those  who  prefer  a 
Microsoft  Ballpoint  to  the  sup- 
plied minitrackball.  The  sock- 
et for  attaching  the  AC  pow- 
er adapter  and  a  compart- 
ment that  houses  the  propri- 
etary expansion  bus  connec- 
tor are  located  at  the  rear  of 
the  machine. 

With  the  Nomad  450DXL, 
you  don't  have  to  stay  at 
your  desktop  to  get  your 
work  done.  This  notebook 
makes  it  possible  to  take  the 
power  you  need  where  you 
need  it,  easily. 

TOM  BErjFORD 

Gateway  2000 

(BOO)  846-2Q00 

(605)  232-2000 

$2,795  (review  configuration) 

$2,495    (with    4MB    RAM    and    a 

120MB  hard  drive) 

Circle  Raader  Service  Number  434 

CRICKET  PAINT 
FOR  WINDOWS 

Computer  Associates  enters 
the  Windows  graphics 
world  with  Cricket  Paint,  a 
powerful — though  some- 
what confusing — paint  pro- 
gram long  familiar  to  Macin- 
tosh users. 

This  company  believes 
that  computer  artists  are 
less  interested  in  the  under- 
pinnings of  a  graphics  pro- 
gram than  in  working  with 
the  art  itself,  so  it  took  care 
in  putting  a  simple  button- 
and-slide-bar  interface  be- 
tween you  and  the  program. 
Some  will  like  the  fact  that 
you  don't  have  to  access  di- 
alog boxes  to  achieve  some 
effects,  though  I  found  this 
approach  unintuitive.  Any 
Windows  product  that  forc- 
es you  to  be  so  dependent 
on  the  manual  has  missed 
the  point  of  using  a  graphi- 
cal user  interface. 

Computer  Associates 
warns  that  Cricket  Paint's 
functionality  wasn't  compro- 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        89 


NEW  FROM  onnmi 


onnmi 


BEST  SCIENCE 
BcnONTTHREE 


Z\ym.D  BY  ELLf-N  Datlow 

□rlgiiul  mrta  by  UnU«  K.  trGuln.  Jhwna 

M,  CXiCti  fu  Murphy.  Mw  CitMlcy.  Gahwi 

Wlbon.  P«t  CAdlgdll.  Scon  WVf.  Un  McDonikl. 

Urucc  McAllliKf .  tftd  Slfnon  Insv 


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REVIEWS 


mlsed  to  suit  low-errd  PC  hardware,  I 
used  it  on  a  486DX2/50  machine  and 
experienced  minimal  delays. 

Cricket  Paint  for  Windows  works  in 
24-bit  color.  If  you  load  a  file  with  a 
more  restricted  palette,  Cricket  Paint 
makes  it  24-bit  automatically.  The  ex- 


■ 

ft 

G-^-Cricker 

.  PainU 

1 

1  ^§5^  ■ 

Cricket  Paint  for  Windows  is  a  port  of  the 
popular  Mac  program. 

ception  is  8-bit  gray-scale  files,  which 
aren't  altered.  Cricket  Paint's  color  con- 
trol is  very  good.  It  offers  two  kinds  of 
graduated  color  (and  several  options 
for  selecting  colors)  and  a  wide  array 
of  masking  options.  You  can  also  cap- 
ture an  area  of  a  drawing  and  turn  it  in- 
to a  texture  (or  use  one  of  the 
"canned"  textures  available  with  the 
product).  When  painting,  you  can  se- 
lect any  of  100  levels  of  opacity.  You 
can  also  copy  (and  do  most  opera- 
tions) in  any  level  of  opacity. 

The  product  is  almost  obsessively 
flexible.  For  example,  you  can  specify 
line  widths  to  .01  of  a  pixel.  Each  tool 
can  be  used  anti-aliased,  hard- 
edged,  or  as  an  airbrush.  And,  as  I  men- 
tioned, you  can  use  any  tool  at  any  lev- 
el of  opacity.  The  program  supports 
the  Wacom  pressure-sensitive  tablet. 

If  you  buy  Cricket  Paint  for  Windows, 
be  prepared  to  spend  some  hours 
with  the  manual.  This  isn't  a  product 
you  can  sit  down  and  immediately 
start  using.  On  the  other  hand,  you'll 
find  that  you  have  a  powerful,  feature- 
rich  program  thai  allows  you  to  perform 
most  ordinary  functions  without  using 
menus  or  dialog  boxes.  You're  unlikely 
to  find  a  more  powerful  drawing  pack- 
age at  a  lower  cost. 

ROBERT  BIXBY 


ComDuier  Associates 
(800)  225-5224 
(516)  342-5224 
S595 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  435 


90        COIVIPUTE    SEPTEt\4BER  1993 


COMPAQ  PROLfNEA 
4/50 

Compaq's  Prolinea  4/50  is  a  fast  and  ca- 
pable 486DX2.  Whether  you  have  an 
extensive  database  to  search,  a  de- 
manding modern  game  to  run,  or  Win- 
dows applications  that  you  want  to 
come  up  quickly  and  smoothly,  this 
could  be  your  machine. 

The  microprocessor  zips  along  at  50 
MHz  in  turbo  mode,  and  the  bus  is  of 
the  PC/AT  ISA  variety.  The  standard 
configuration  for  this  model — as  well  as 
for  the  other  Prolinea  486  models — 
consists  of  4f\/IB  of  RAM  (expandable 
to  32MB);  one  3'/?-inch  high-density 
floppy  drive;  a  1024  x  768,  256-color 
graphics  controller;  two  additional 
drive  bays  for  a  hard  drive  and  5Va- 
inch  floppy  drive;  one  parallel  port;  two 
serial  ports;  a  pointing-device  inter- 
face; three  16-bit  ISA  expansion  slots; 
and  DOS  5  preinstalled.  The  Prolinea 
Windows+  models  also  have  Windows 
3.1  and  PFS:  WindowWorks  preinstal- 
led, as  well  as  a  Compaq  mouse  and 
a  5V4-inch  floppy  drive. 

In  addition  to  these  standard  fea- 
tures, the  unit  I  tried  came  equipped 
with  a  240MB  hard  drive,  5120K  of  ex^ 
tended  memory,  a  101 -key  keyboard, 
and  a  Compaq  SVGA  coior  monitor. 
Among  the  nice  security  features  includ- 
ed on  all  of  these  models  is  power-on 
password  protection  and  keyboard 
password  protection.  The  unit's  easy  to 
access  and  expand,  especially  when  in- 
serting additional  RAM  (except  that  the 
hard  drive  must  first  be  removed), 
There  are  four  memory  expansion  sock- 
ets, which  accept  snap-in  modules  for 
ease  of  insertion.  Case  dimensions  are 
about  16  inches  wide,  15  inches 
deep,  and  4  inches  high,  so  good  de- 
sign is  evident  in  the  way  limited 
space  is  handled  here, 

Upon  first  running  the  4/50,  I  found 
that  there  was  a  little  adjustment  nec- 
essary for  the  SVGA  display.  The  first 
thing  I  noticed  was  that  text  mode  was 
in  monochrome;  I  had  to  experiment 
with  some  paint  programs  to  find  out 
which  video-board  specification 
worked  best  for  high-resolution  graph- 
ics displays.  One  that  did  was  a  Sigma 
VESA  driver,  and  a  brief  online  search 
located  one  for  nearly  all  my  graphics 
utilities,  Windows  and  Mathematica 
were  still  showing  graphics  in  mono- 
chrome, as  was  text  mode.  More  on- 
line searching  revealed  the  source  of 
the  problem,  Conversation  in  the  mes- 
sage bases  indicated  that  some  Com- 
paq Prolinea  systems  using  Compaq 
SVGA  coior  monitors  come  up  in  mon- 
ochrome  mode  rather  than  color 
mode.  More  searching  turned  up  a  de- 


vice driver  that  prevents  other  drivers 
from  detecting  a  monochrome  display. 
At  that  point,  I  was  down  to  serious  test- 
ing of  the  system  with  full  color  and 
full  resolution  on  all  counts. 

Although  Windows  and  DOS  5 
came  preinstalled,  I  found  that  there 
was  a  problem  after  reformatting  the 
hard  drive  for  a  UNIX  partition.  Fully  ex- 
pecting to  replace  Windows  and  DOS 
upon  completion,  I  was  shocked  to  dis- 
cover that  neither  was  packaged  with 
the  computer.  That's  bad — under  oth- 
er circumstances,  the  drive  head 
could  get  moved  dunng  shipment  and 
damage  the  installed  software,  I  can't 
emphasize  enough  the  Importance  of 
having  the  floppy  disks  around  for  back- 
up and  system  modification. 

To  test  speed  and  smoothness  of  op- 
eration, I  ran  several  power-intensive 
programs  on  the  4/50,  a  Data  Stor 
486SX/25,  and  a  3a6DX/33  These  in- 
cluded Windows  applications  such  as 
MacDraft  and  Hollywood — which  are 
heavily  graphics  and  processing  orient- 
ed—and DOS  applications  like  Dance 
of  the  Planets,  Color  Works,  Derive, 
Lemmings  2,  X-Wing,  and  DeluxePaint 
lie — also  heavily  processing  oriented. 
This  test  wasn't  entirely  scientific  be- 
cause Dance  of  the  Planets  runs  best 
with  a  math  coprocessor  and  fvlathe- 
matica  and  Macsyma  require  one. 
With  all  appropriate  tested  software, 
the  4/50  visibly  outpaced  the  others. 

In  order  to  obtain  data  not  biased  by 
my  own  interpretation,  I  also  ran  the  Nor- 
ton Utilities  SI  program  and  looked  at 
the  benchmark  tests.  The  benchmarks 
confirmed  significant  speed  differenc- 
es between  the  three  computers  in 
both  file  access  and  processing.  With 
an  IBM  PC  XT  8088  running  at  4.77 
MHz  as  a  base  value  of  1  in  all  index- 
es, the  4/50  has  a  computing  index 
(CPU  speed)  value  of  95,  a  disk 
speed  index  approximated  at  8.2,  and 
an  overall  performance  index  value  of 
66.  Compare  this  with  the  Data  Stor 
486SX/25  values  of,  respectively,  54, 
7.5,  and  38.5,  and  the  386DX/33  val- 
ues of  34.8,  7,  and  25.5.  (One  note 
about  the  disk  speed,  however:  The 
benchmark  test  reported  finding  an  ad- 
vanced disk  controller,  further  advising 
that  the  disk  controller  had  blocked  the 
drive-seek  timing  test.  Many  advanced 
controllers  will  ignore  attempts  to 
move  the  drive  heads  unless  data's  ac- 
tually being  transferred,) 

Standard  customer  support  is  a  one- 
year  on-site  limited  warranty  with  free 
technical  support  to  callers  within 
North  America. 

This  seems  a  solid  and  capable  com- 
puter— one  I  wouldn't  mind  having  for 
my  own  use. 

BRUCE  M,  BOWDEN 


Shareware 
to  Meet  Your 
Every  Need 

Libris  Britannia  CDROiUI 

From  the  best  British 
shareware  library,  over  600 
megabytes  of  superb  public 
domyin  and  .shareware  for  the 
IBM  PC.  This  disc  is  biased 
towards  the  technical  and 
scientific  PC  user  and 
includes  CKteiisive  sections  on  electronics, 
engineering,  mathematics,  medicine,  statistics, 
ham  radio  and  other  specialist  areas.  Libris 
Britannia  comes  with  a  124  page  book 
describing  each  software  package.  Made  in 
March  1993 $69.95* 

GIga  Games  CDROM 

This  disc  feature.?  an  amazing 

collection  of  games,  from 

classic  arcade  to  the  la.stcst 

windows    simulations    to 

educational  games  for  all 

ages.  Mah  Jong  Tile  sets, 

sports  games,  trivia  games, 

word  games,  war  games,  visual  entertainment, 

BBS  doors  and  more.  A  vast  assortment  of 

utilities  and  "cheat  sheet.s"  for  commercial  and 

shareware  games  is  included.  BBS  ready, 

Made  In  June  1993 $39.95* 

CICA  MS  Windows  CDROIVI 

This  disc  contains  a  copy  of 
CICA,  the  internet's  largest 
Windows  ftp  site,  with 
hundreds  of  megabytes  of  MS 
Windows  programs.  Includes 
all  sorts  of  utilities,  games, 
demos  (for  Windows  prog- 
rams), fonts  and  font  viewing  and  design 
programs,  source  code,  printer  and  monitor 
drivers,  programming  tools  and  a  whole  lot 
more!  Updated  qtiaiterly,  the  current  edition  is 
new  in  April  199.1.  Yearlv  subscriptions 
available.  BBS  index  files '. S24.95* 

Simtel  IVISDOS  CDROM 

Packed  full  of  the  world's 

highest    quality    MSDOS 

shareware  —  every  DOS  user 

should  own  this  disk!  Siraiel 

contains     something     for 

everyone,  with  ovor  9.000 

files.   Our   friendly   shell 

program  will  help  you  find  whatever  you  need, 

whether  it  be  utilities,  communications 

programs,  BBS's,  editors,  documentation, 

databases,  etc,  BBS  index  files.  Last  quarterly 

update  in  May  1993 S24.95'' 

CDROM  Caddies  S4.95 

*  Shareware  programs  require  separate 
payment  to  authors  if  found  useful. 

ecUQ  AMEXA/ISA/MC/COD 

c'^k*-'^        1-800-786-9907 

^       FAX  1-510-674-0821 

info@cdrom.com 

S5  S&H  per  order  (in  USA,  Canada  and  Mexico) 
$10  overseas  1-510-674-0783 

All  our  disks 
;       are  unconditionally 
-.  .■  guaranteed. 

Walnut  Creek  CDROM 

4041  Pike  Lane,  Suite  D 
Concord,  CA  94520 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  189 


REVIEWS 


Compaq 

(800)345-1518 

(713)  370-0670 

$1,899  (eslimated  street  price) 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  436 

DESKJET  550C 

Few  of  us  watch  black-and- 
white  TV  sets  any  more,  and 
most  of  us  even  have  color 
monitors  on  our  computers. 
So  why  do  we  put  up  with 
boring  gray-scale  output?  If 
you're  looking  to  add  a 
spiash  of  color  to  your  doc- 
uments and  presentations, 
Hewlett-Packard's  DeskJet 
550C  printer  is  just  what  you 
need. 

The  HP  DeskJet  series  of 
printers  has  been  around 
awhile,  providing  crisp,  300- 
dots-per-inch  output  at  a 


low  price.  Last  year's 
DeskJet  5Q0C  added  300- 
dpi  color  to  the  line,  allow- 
ing you  to  remove  the  black 
ink  cartridge  and  replace  it 
with  a  color  cart  when  you 
needed  color  on  your  print- 
ed output.  This  approach 
wasn't  without  problems.  It 
was  a  pain  to  have  to 
switch  cartridges  whenever 
you  wanted  to  print  color. 
Worse,  the  color  cartridge 
had  on!y  cyan,  magenta, 
and  yellow  inks,  so  black 
had  to  be  created  by  mixing 
all  three  colors.  This  result- 
ed in  a  muddy,  oversaturat- 
ed  printout  whenever  you 
had  large  areas  of  black. 

The  new  DeskJet  550C 
cures  these  problems  by  hav- 
ing both  print  carthdges  on- 
line simultaneously  and  let- 


ting your  printer  driver  con- 
trol the  mixing,  if  you  print  a 
monochrome  document,  on- 
ly the  black  cartridge  is 
used.  When  color  comes  in- 
to play,  the  printer  driver  ac- 
tivates the  other  cartridge, 
mixing  the  colors  with  the 
true  black  from  the  black  ink 
cartridge- 
Output  quality  from  the 
DeskJet  550C  is  nothing 
short  of  wonderful.  The  300- 
dpi  text  output  rivals  laser 
printing — only  a  very  close 
look  discerns  any  differ- 
ence. Both  gray-scale  and 
color  graphics  look  very 
good  as  well.  The  printer  mix- 
es and  dithers  the  three  pri- 
mary colors  and  black  to  rep- 
resent thousands  of  differ- 
ent colors.  I  tested  the  print- 
er using  the  included  Win- 


dows 3.1  driver  on  a  486 
PC,  and  using  the  Creative 
Focus  Super_DJC2  driver 
on  an  Amiga  4000.  The 
print  quality  on  both  comput- 
ers was  superb,  with  24-bit 
picture  files  looking  {from  a 
small  distance)  almost  like 
matte-finish  photographs. 
The  DeskJet  uses  a  version 
of  the  HP  PCL  printer  lan- 
guage, which  tends  to  allow 
much  better-looking  graph- 
ics printouts  than  the  Epson 
emulation  used  by  many 
competing  ink-jet  printers. 
You  should  make  sure 
you're  using  the  latest  HP 
Windows  driver,  which  you 
can  get  from  HP  or  down- 
load from  CompuServe. 

The  Windows  driver  af- 
fords you  great  control  over 
font  selection;  Courier  and 


Elvis  la  Alive 


...  and  well,  with  24  other  artists 
in  tlie  lioltesl,  least  expensive,  most 
professional  sountiing,  MIDI  Karaoke 
on  the  market  today! 

Customize  each  song  to  fit  your  voice 
perfectly  with  our  pitch  and  speed 
controls.  Use  any  of  our  25  song  selection  —  from 
Broadway  greats  to  today's  biggest  hits  —  or  create 
your  own  hits  ...  it's  easy  since  MIDI  Karaoke  uses 
standard  MIDI  ffles. 

But  wait,  there's  more  ...  Turtle  Beach  MIDI 
Kai-aoke  is  the  only  Karoake  application  with  the 
bouncing  ball.  Yes,  from  word  to  word,  our  bouncing 
ball  guides  you  perfectly  through  the  song  so  you  sing 
the  right  words  at  the  ri^t  tinie. 


92        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


AND.. .most,  most,  most  importantly, 
it's  the  only  Karaoke  application  Uial 
allows  you  to  record  your  owti  \^oice 
dira^Uy  to  the  hard  drive  while  you're  singing 
and  then  play  back  the  entire  Qle  —  music  and 
voice  together!! 

So  don't  get  all  shook  up.  Get  all 
this  and  more  for  only  §49! 
See  your  favorite  dealer,  or 
call  80M455&M)  and  order  your 
Turtle  Beach  MIDI  Karaoke  today. 

WORKS  WITH  ANY  SOUND  CARD! 

IWllE  BEACH  SYSTEMS 

P.O.  80X5074  .  VoA,  Pennsyivanta  .  17405  •  7I7-B43-69I6  •  FAX:  717-855-8319 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  193 


2  GREAT  MEDICAL  PROGRAMS 


'JJ4 


.oRware^'^'^         Created  By  Doctovs  NOT  Computer  Programmers! 

Expert  lUledical  Advice  j^l^l^  Includes . .  .Interact ' 

CHOICE  At  The  Touch  Of  A  Key!  mSU^^k  Comprehensive  Drug  Interaction  Program 

NOMINEE" " ""  °^  iSS^mm  MB... 


FAtHtIMB  OH  FAOIIHCSS 


Fast  Answers 

The  ONLY  program  of  its  kind  to  ana- 
lyze symptoms  and  provide  actual 
diagnoses 

Easy  To  Understand 

No  confusing"medicai  jargon" 

The  Largest  Drug  Database 
3|us  extensive  info  on  diseases, 
njuries,  tests,  poisons,  nutrition  &  diets 


PIXEL  PERFECT  ^ 


Home  Medical  Advisor 

$87.50* 

Your  Medical  Records 

$69.95* 
MS-DOS  and  Windows  Versions  AmOable 


ort 

*  List  Price 


''•.*!!£^J-!?.^'.?'A^f.''J    1 1 p-1 1 1 . ■  ■'>.fTJl^,''i.°'17.'!q'  ^^5.' 


ObCyn  hlitaiy  iibI  BppJJciblr 


^m\ 


t  I   I  mjttoYB>tM  hiiiarv  fti 


Windows  ScfiijMS  Bttowri— 


) 


TEL  1*07)  777  -  5353    FAX  (407)  777  -  0323 
10460  So.  Tropical  Trail  Merritt  Island,  FL  32952 


1-800-788-2099 

See  your  Sofhvare  Dealer  or, ,  ,CalI  Us  Today 

All  Trademarks  are  property  of  their  respective  owners 
Circle  Reader  Service  Number  169 


YOUR  XT 

14  Complete  Medical  Histories 
Keeps  and  prints  YOUR  important 
medical  records  in  two  different  formats 

Medical-Legal  Documents 
Prints  custom  documents  like  the  "Living 
■'and  "Durable  Power  of  Attorney" 

alyzes  Over  2,400  Substances 
^act,  provides  a  complete  analysis 
of  250,000  possible  drug  interactions 


^5  \M 


Q 


Letter  Gothic  fonts  are  built 
into  the  printer  in  both  por- 
trait and  landscape  formats, 
and  CG  Times  and  Univers 
fonts  are  available  in  portrait 
formal.  In  addition,  scalable 
Courier,  Univers,  and  CG 
Times  fonts  are  included  on 
the  Windows  driver  disk,  Ad- 
ditional fonts  are  available 
on  plug-in  cartridges.  True- 
Type and  ATM  fonts  from 
Windows  and  Compugraph- 
ic  Intellifonts  on  the  Amiga 
looked  just  as  good  as  the 
built-in  fonts,  but  printed  sig- 
nificantly slower. 

DeskJet  printouts  used  to 
smear  if  they  got  wet,  but 
HP  reformulated  its  ink  car- 
tridges a  couple  of  years 
ago:  you  can  now  spill  cof- 
fee on  your  printouts  with 
the  best  of  them.  The 
DeskJet  uses  regular  pa- 
per— special  ink-jet  paper 
isn't  needed  (which  is 
good,  since  it  usually  produc- 
es poor  results).  Some  pa- 
pers will  give  better  results 
than  others;  I've  found  that 
Strathmore  Legacy  and  Ham- 
mermill  Laser  Print  papers 


Hewlett-Packard's  DeskJet  550C  supports  both  monochrome  and 
full-color  printing  at  300  dots  per  inch. 


give  excellent  results,  as  do 
Paper  Direct's  fancy  letter- 
head papers,  Only  single- 
sheet  paper  is  supported; 
the  paper  tray  supports  let- 
ter, legal,  and  executive  pa- 
per sizes,  as  well  as  Europe- 
an sizes.  You  can  even  print 
on  transparency  film.  New 
to  the  DeskJet  550C  is  an  en- 
velope feeder  that  holds  up 
to  20  envelopes. 


Quiet,  flexible  (with  both 
serial  and  parallel  connec- 
tors), and  reliable,  the 
DeskJet  550C  is  a  great  print- 
er for  anyone  bored  with 
black-and-white. 

DENNY  ATKIN 


Hewlelt-Packa'd 
(800)  538-8787 
S879 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  437 


CREEPERS 


Like  an  undercooked  dish 
pulled  from  the  back  burner, 
there's  something  suspicious- 
ly unpalatable  about  this 
Psygnosis  offering.  Though 
eminently  playable,  the 
game  lacks  the  spice  and 
polish  we've  come  to  expect 
from  Britain's  premier  soft- 
ware publisher. 

Gameplay  offers  a  poten- 
tially interesting  blend  of  puz- 
zle-solving strategy  and  real- 
time arcade  skills.  Your  job 
is  to  herd  creepers — caterpil- 
lars—from one  section  of 
the  screen  to  another,  drop- 
ping them  into  a  bowl  to 
turn  into  butterflies.  Natural- 
ly the  path  is  strewn  with  pit- 
falls, ranging  from  lethal  to 
simply  annoying.  To  help 
the  little  critters  along, 
you're  given  a  limited  num- 
ber of  creeper  tools:  swat- 
ters, girders,  fans,  bombs, 
magnets,  and  trampolines. 
Tools  can  be  placed  and  re- 
moved as  needed,  but 
each  action  drains  energy 
from  your   limited   supply. 

SEPTEMBER  1993    COMPUTE        93 


IS  THERE 


Live  psychics  reveal  what  the 
future  halds  for  your  love  life. 


LIVEI  Specializing  in 
"uestions  of  love 


$5  first  min./$3  ea.  addl.  min. 


Use  the  vuisdom  of 

psychic  forces  to 

guide  you  in  money, 

career  and  happiness 

1-900 

773-OMEN 

1  -900-773-6636 
$5  first  min./S3  ea.  addl.  min. 

TALK  TO  A  LIVE  PSYCHIC! 


For  entertainment  purposes 
only.  If  you  are  under  18  years 

of  age,  please  get  parental 

permission.  Live  psychics  are 

available  24  hours  a  day. 

Sponsored  by  Pet  Inc.,  P.O.  Box 

166,  Hollywood,  CA  90078. 


REVIEWS 


Run  out  of  energy,  and  the  game 
ends.  You  must  rescue  the  required 
number  of  bugs  to  advance  through 
73  levels,  arranged  in  four  stages  of 
increasing  difficulty. 

The  game  invites  obvious  compari- 
sons to  Sierra's  Incredible  Machine 


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Psygiiosis'  Creepers  packs  73  levels  of 
increasingly  difficult  puzzles. 

and  Psygnosis's  own  Lemmings  series. 
Unfortunately,  the  puzzles  lack  the  va- 
riety and  creative  flair  of  the  hit  Sierra 
title.  The  creepers  also  fail  to  evoke  the 
lively  personality  and  wacky  sense  of 
humor  of  their  Lemmings  counterparts. 

Graphics  are  extremely  bright  and 
colorful,  but  drawn  with  an  almost  de- 
meaning childlike  quality.  The  game's 
best  innovation  is  the  Creeper  Peeper, 
a  pop-up  video  window  that  can  be  set 
to  follow  the  lead  creeper  or  focus  on 
a  particular  area  of  the  screen.  This 
handy  multitasking  tool  would've  been 
ideal  for  Lemmings  2  with  its  large  vir- 
tual play  screens.  Here,  the  feature's 
wasted  on  levels  that  rarely  extend  be- 
yond three  screens  wide. 

Creepers  plays  well,  but  it  lacks  the 
zest  and  individuality  needed  to  stand 
out  in  this  popular  genre. 

SCOTT  A.  MAY 


Psygnos'S 

(617)  497-7794 

S49.99 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  438 


PENTACALC 


It's  really  a  pain  to  be  sitting  before 
that  big,  powerful  computer  and  have 
to  resort  to  your  hand-held  calculator 
for  a  result  to  be  entered  into  the  doc- 
ument you're  working  on.  Windows 
does  a  nice  job  of  meeting  this  need 
with  its  built-in  calculator.  PentaCalc, 
which  runs  under  Windows,  extends 
this  basic  capability  with  many  addition- 
al features. 

The  program  offers  five  modes  of  cal- 
culation, The  basic  mode  is  the  scien- 
tific calculator,  which  performs  all  the 
usual  arithmetic  operations  plus  trigo- 
nometric, logarithmic,  and  exponential, 


PENTHOUSE  ONLINE^'' 

•  State-of-the-Art 

VGA/SVGA, 

2400/9600  bps  Service! 

•  Near  real-time  picture 

display 

•  Photo  E-Mail 

•  National  Discount 
Shopping  Services 

•  No  9600  baud 

surcharge! 

•  PetPoints^'^  Awards 

Program 

•  Low  monthly  and 

connect  fees! 

Exciting  news!  Penthouse  introduces  an 
online  service  that's  easier — and  more 
fun— to  use.  Called  PENTHOUSE 
ONLINE,  this  new  service  features  9600 
bps  capability  and  "real-time"  graphics — 
almost  instantaneous  online  viewing  of 
photos  and  E-Mail  with  picture-attach 
capability,  Send  a  message., .and  a 
photo.. .at  the  same  time! 

Log  on  and  access  Chat,  E-Mail, 
Penthouse  Letters,  Penthouse 
Photos. ..plus  special  Navigation  and 
Help  areas.  New  areas  are  being  added 
continuously.  Navigate  anywhere  using  a 
mouse  or  Tab  key. 

The  Penthouse  photos  you'll  find  on 
PENTHOUSE  ONLINE  are  the  same 
high  quality  seen  every  month  in 
Penthouse.  Our  unique  speed-view 
system  lets  you  browse  in  256-color 
VGA.  then  download  the  photos  you 
wish  to  keep.  That's  right.  View  BEFORE 
you  download. 

There's  more!  Keep  up  to  date  on 
national  and  world  events,  the  financial 
markets,  entertainment  news  and 

more Thinl<ing  about  travel?  See  our 

DISCOUNT  TRAVEL  SERVICE 
area. ..And  don't  miss  our  DISCOUNT 
MERCHANDISE  fvlART!  Thousands  of 
nationally  advertised  products— all  at 
discounts,  all  with  a  "double  the  price- 
difference"  guarantee. 

All  this  for  just  $5.95  a  month  basic  fee. 
plus  20  cents  a  minute  for  most  areas. 
And  NO  9600  BPS  SURCHARGE! 

As  a  member  of  PENTHOUSE  ONLINE, 
you  receive  valuable  PetPoints  for  every 
dollar  you  spend.  Redeem  PetPoints  for 
Penthouse  ball  caps,  T-shirts,  can 
coolers,  key  rings  ,  and  more.  Or  use 
them  to  purchase  sought-after  Pentfiouse 
books  and  videos.  Or  trade  points  for  free 
online  time.  It's  your  choice! 

Plus,  we've  arranged  with  a  major 
modem  manufacturer,  USRobotics,  to 
offer  a  deluxe,  9600  bps  data/fax 
modem,  with  custom  Penthouse  Key 
insignia,  for  under  $300. 
To  order  your  membership  kit 
call  1-800-289-7368  or  circle  the 
reader  service  number  below. 


Circle  Reader  Service  Number  103 


PHOOfl 


including  e^x.  You  can  clnoose  from  bi- 
nary, octal,  decimal,  or  hexadecimal 
number  bases  for  these  calculations. 
In  addition,  there's  a  time  base  that 
lets  you  calculate  the  time  difference  be- 
tween two  dates  and  will  tell  you  the 
day  of  the  week  of  any  date  over  a 
very  wide  time  range, 

Another  mode  is  that  of  a  ten-key 
tape  calculator.  Although  limited  to  sim- 


//  Windows'  simple  calculator  doesn't  pack 
the  horsepower  you  need,  try  PentaCalc. 

pie  arithmetic  operations,  a  "tape"  re- 
cord is  kept  of  the  entries  and  opera- 
tions, and  you  may  go  back  over  the 
tape  to  correct  errors  or  change  en- 
tries. Text  labels  of  the  entries  are  al- 
lowed, and  you  may  save  or  print  the 
tape.  A  tax  key  is  offered  that  shows 
the  tax  on  the  current  total  at  a  tax 
rate  you  define,  just  like  at  the  grocery 
store. 

The  financial  mode  performs  time- 
value-of-money  or  cash-flow  calcula- 
tions. It  offers  convenient  definition  and 
evaluation  of  investment  goals,  and  it 
will  create  an  amortization  table  for  you 
on  your  mortgage.  It's  a  very  powerful 
tool  if  you  pay  attention  to  what  your 
money  is  doing — and  should  be  doing. 

The  unit  conversions  mode  is  com- 
prehensive; it  converts  just  about  any- 
thing into  other  units.  Length,  area,  ve- 
locity, volume,  pressure — there  are  28 
dimensions  in  all.  The  volume  units  are 
interesting,  offering  conversions  be- 
tween the  usual  quarts,  gallons,  and  li- 
ters, along  with  cups,  tablespoons, 
and  teaspoons.  If  you  need  to  scale  a 
recipe  for  eight  down  to  two,  you 
might  find  this  useful. 

Finally,  the  statistics  mode  operates 
on  a  list  of  numbers,  calculating  the 
mean,  median,  standard  deviation, 
sum,  or  range,  as  you  prefer.  You  may 
edit  the  list  to  make  changes,  addi- 
tions, or  deletions.  In  all  modes,  num- 
bers can  be  transferred  to  or  from  oth- 
er Windov/s  documents  by  way  of  the 
Clipboard. 

PentaCalc  is  an  unusual  calculator, 
offering  many  features  not  commonly 
found.  Fast  and  convenient,  Pentacalc 
could  be  a  most  useful  addition  to 
your  Windows  utility  library. 

CHARLES  IDOL 


Headgaie 

(800)  230-0652 

S59.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  439 


TEXEL  DM-5024 
EXTERNAL  CD-ROM  KIT 

Sooner  or  later,  like  hard  drives,  CD- 
ROM  drives  will  be  required  equipment 
for  even  the  most  casual  user,  Though 
hardly  a  household  name,  Texel  has  a 
drive  that  boasts  features  comparable 
to  those  with  more  familiar  names,  and 
at  a  considerably  lower  price. 

Texel  is  a  subsidiary  of  a  74-year- 
old  Japanese  manufacturing  company 
called  Shinano  Kenshi.  It's  been  mak- 
ing precision  motors  for  computer  pe- 
ripherals since  1962,  heavy-duty  com- 
mercial audio  CD  players  (like  the  ones 
used  at  radfo  stations)  since  1989.  and 
CD-ROM  drives  since  1990.  With  cre- 
dentials like  that,  I  think  Texel's  quali- 
fied to  compete. 

This  drive  has  some  impressive  fea- 
tures, not  the  least  of  which  are  its  265- 
ms  access  time  and  300-kbps  data 
transfer  rate.  If  this  all  sounds  like 
Greek  to  you,  then  think  of  it  this  way: 
It's  about  ten  times  slower  than  a  fast 
hard  drive  and  about  two  to  three 
times  faster  than  a  floppy  drive.  An  au- 
dio CD  (the  kind  you  listen  to  on  your 
stereo)  player  transfers  data  at  150 
kbps.  Because  the  Texel  is  twice  as 
fast  as  that,  it's  called  a  double-speed 
drive. 

Equally  impressive  is  its  ability  to 
read  audio  CDs,  Kodak  fvlultisession 
Photo  CDs,  High  Sierra  CDs,  and  ISO 
9660  CDs.  It's  also  XA  compliant, 
which  means  that  with  a  special  decod- 
er board,  it  won't  necessarily  have  to 
slow  down  to  150  kbps  to  play  the  au- 
dio track  on  a  game  or  encyclopedia 
but  instead  can  read  it  at  300  kbps 
and  buffer  its  output  to  the  speakers. 

As  far  as  compatibility  and  ease  of  in- 
stallation go,  I  had  the  dhve  and  card 
installed  and  running  in  less  than  ten 
minutes.  The  Texel  operated  impressive- 
ly under  both  DOS  and  Windows.  I  al- 
so received  excellent — and  freel— tech- 
nical support  when  I  ran  into  a  problem 
running  it  under  OS/2. 

If  you  need  a  CD-ROfvl  drive,  the 
Texel  is  well  worth  consideration.  It's  a 
very  fast  and  quite  reasonably  priced 
drive  with  excellent  technical  support. 
It's  the  most  drive  for  the  money. 

BRADLEY  M.  SMALL 

Texel 

(800)  886-3935 

(40B)  980-1838 

S499 — inlernal  drive 

S599 — external  drive 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  440 

Circle  Reader 
Service  Number  275 


Dr.Ts  Sing-A-Long 

uniquely  combines  over  25  classic 
children's  songs,  animations,  song  lyrics, 
anct  musical  notation.  Each  wonderful  song 
has  its  own  characters  and  animated  story. 
Parents  and  educators  agree  —  it's  a 
delightful  and  fun  *■ 

way  to  Introduce 
children  to  the 
wonders  of  music. 


|I>r.T's 

'^■■USIC  SOFTWARE 


REVIEWS 


ERIC  THE 
UNREADY 


Fantasy  role-players  get  a 
healthy  kick  in  the  pants 
from  Eric  the  Unready,  a  de- 
lightfully twisted  text-and- 
graphic  adventure,  Packed 
witli  thriils,  spills,  and  outra- 
geous humor,  the  game  is 
without  a  doubt  Legend  En- 
tertainment's best  effort  yet. 

Step  inside  the  tarnished 
armor  of  young  Eric,  a  fledg- 
ling Knight  of  the  Rhomboid 
Table.  Your  task  is  to  find 
Princess  Loreaile,  abducted 
by  her  wicked  stepmother. 
Queen  Morgana,  and  her  lov- 
er. Sir  PeotoraL  Outwardly, 
the  story  follows  the  stan- 
dard fantasy  formula,  re- 
plete with  magic,  puzzles, 
monsters,  and  miniquests, 
Hack  away  the  slick  veneer, 
however,  and  you'll  enter  a 
role-playing  realm  turned  up- 
side down  and  tickled  till  it 
begs  for  mercy  From  mov- 
ies and  television  to  classic 
computer  games,  few  pop 
culture  icons  escape  the 
swath  of  playful  ribbing. 

Designer  Bob  Bates  and 
programmer  Duane  Beck 
have  fashioned  one  of  the 
slickest  system  architec- 
tures in  the  genre.  Every- 
thing needed  to  communi- 
cate, manipulate,  and  moni- 
tor your  progress  is  within 
easy  reach  on  the  high-res- 
olution windowed  interface. 
You  can  either  type  full  sen- 
tences into  the  story  window 
or  use  the  mouse  to  assem- 
ble commands  from  the 
scrolling  verb,  preposition, 
and  object  menus.  Other  fea- 
tures include  one-touch  com- 
mand buttons  to  display 
your  inventory,  status,  and 
score;  call  up  online  help; 
run  automapping:  and  tog- 
gle the  graphics  window. 

Bates's  text  parser  is  intel- 
ligent, intuitive,  and  excruci- 
atingly funny.  Puzzles  are  of 

96        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


average  difficulty,  but 
they're  varied  enough  to  sus- 
tain long-term  interest.  Graph- 
ics are  handsomely  drawn 
and  feature  an  exciting  mix 
of  windowed  and  full- 
screen animated  art.  Almost 
all  pictures  are  interactive,  in- 
viting realtime  participation 
in  a  wide  range  of  settings 


ic  animation,  stunning  hi-res 
Super  VGA  graphics,  and 
an  awesome  soundtrack. 
Princess  Loreaile  the  Worthy 
has  never  looked  so  good.  Al- 
so, the  CD-ROtVl  version  us- 
es only  3MB  on  your  hard 
drive,  a  welcome  benefit  in 
the  world  of  huge  games. 
Perfectly  realized  from  con- 


"Fear  not,  my  lady.  No  one  would  dare  harm  the  daughter 
of  good  King  Fudd.  To  do  so  woutd  incur  the  wrath  of  that 
flower  of  chivalry,  the  Knights  of  the  Rhomboid  Table.  No 
one  would  be  so  foolish  as  to  take  that  risk  -  even  for  one 
so  beautiful  as  yourself." 


Legend  Entertainment's  Eric  the  Unready  packs  megabytes  of 
humor  on  both  floppy  and  CD-ROM  versions. 


Kid  Desk  lets  you  set  up  attractive  and  fun-filled  menus  tor  every 
kid  in  the  house — including  yourself. 


and  activities.  Tastefully  un- 
derstated music  and  sound 
effects  lend  a  rich  air  of  ele- 
gance to  the  overall  silliness 
of  the  game. 

If  you  have  a  CD-ROfvl 
drive,  check  out  the  new  CD 
version  of  Eric  the  Unready, 
which  takes  the  same  hilari- 
ous story  and  adds  cinemat- 


cept  to  execution.  Eric  the 
Unready  is  a  rare  treat 
that's  not  to  be  missed. 

SCOTT  A    MAY 


Legend  Enlertainment 
Distributed  by  Accolade 
(800)  245-7744 
$59.95 

Circle  Reader  Senice  Number  441 


KID  DESK 


EdMark's  Kid  Desk  packs 
more  fun  than  you'll  find  in 
any  other  menu  program. 
With  it,  you  can  set  up  attrac- 
tive and  fun-fil!ed  individual 
menus  for  every  kid  in  the 
house — including  yourself! 

Kid  Desk  places  a  color- 
ful "menu"  onscreen,  but  it 
doesn't  look  like  a  tradition- 
al computer  menu;  it  looks 
like  a  desk.  The  desk 
comes  with  fun-filled  acces- 
sories: pen  and  pencil  sets 
you  can  click  on  to  select  a 
different  desk  style,  an  Ear- 
ly American  scroll-top,  for  in- 
stance; a  single  date  calen- 
dar that  flips  up  to  a  monthly 
calendar  that  you  can  write 
on;  a  clock  that  speaks  the 
time;  a  desk  light  that  turns 
on  or  off  to  brighten  or  dark- 
en the  screen;  and  a  tele- 
phone that  actually  talks  in 
many  languages  when  you 
click  on  it  to  pick  up  the 
handset. 

Press  a  three-key  combina- 
tion, and  the  program  switch- 
es to  Adult  mode,  where 
f^om  and  Dad  can  add  pro- 
grams to  the  desktop,  set 
up  individual  menus  for 
each  child,  passv/ord-pro- 
tect  the  Adult  mode  with  a 
word  only  they  know,  and  se- 
lect attractive  icons  to 
launch  the  programs  they 
add  to  the  desk. 

Icons  for  each  child  ap- 
pear on  an  opening  menu. 
Children  click  on  their  own 
icons  to  launch  their  individ- 
ual desktops.  The  program 
can  be  installed  so  that  Kid 
Desk  is  launched  when  the 
computer  is  turned  on,  and 
you  can  configure  it  so  that 
children  cannot  escape  to 
DOS  where  they  can  get  in- 
to grownups'  files. 

Almost  everything  here 
can  be  individualized.  If  you 
have  a  scanned  image  of 
your  child,  you  can  load  it  in- 
to a  picture  frame  displayed 


Advertisers  Index 


Reader  Service  Number/Advertiser  Page 

162    8-Bil    G-17 

AlCS 33 

268    Amish  Outlaw  Shareware  Co 116 

157    AMTEX  Soltware  Corporation     87 

244  Antigrav  Toolkil    G-9 

Bare  Bones  Sollware   116 

298    Bare  Bones  Sollware A-13 

151  Bea[  Technologies A-23 

152  Bear  Techwtogies G-12 

BesI  Personalized  Books    Ill 

120  Better  Concepts A-7 

173  Blue  Valle/  Soltwate    117 

218    Body  Cello   11B 

245  Broderbund    43 

121  B.B.  ROMS    112 

181  Caloke  Industries G-12 

lie    Cell  Micro 113 

156    CH  ProrJucls    27 

149  Chips  &  Bits    69 

139  CMD/Crealive  Micro  Designs G-11 

174  ComPro  Sollware   110 

114  CompSull G-17 

150  CompSull    112 

IDS    CompuServe 16,17 

112  Computer  Book  Club 73 

Computer  Business  Services 110 

Computer  tor  Tracts.  Inc A-7 

254    Computer  Friends 116 

Comtrad 15 

Comtrad ,63 

125    Creative  labs 3 

123    Creative  Pixels  Lid A-7 

113  Creative  Pixels  Lid G-12 

226    Crosley  Software 116 

DS  K  Enterprises 111 

161    Delphi    23 

131    DemoSource 114 

188    Digispeech  Inc 39 

180    Digital  Direclmy  Assislance 113 

187    Digilsl  Expressions  Research    A-17 

167    Disks  O'Plenly    A-17 

253    Disks  O'Plenly G-9 

208    Disk-Count  Sollware 103 

275    Dr  T's  Music  Sollware 95 

182  Eagle  Tree  Software A-11 

296    Electronic  Arts 45 

FGIil  Connection G-17 

lis    Free  Spirit  Sollware 99 

159    Grapevine  Group.  The 6-13 

234    Horse  Feathers  Grapfiics G-a 


fleailer  Service  Number/Advertiser 


Page      Reader  Servlca  Number/Advertiser 


Page 


IBM 5 

IBM 5.7 

300    ID    83 

117    Impressions  Software    65 

Interplay 77 

231    Jackson  tvlarking  Products  Co.  Inc 110 

Jasmine  Mullimedia  Publishing 84 

140  JemmaSoll 113 

JP  P3M  Products  by  Mail G-11 

170    Ksysione  Software  G-12 

197  KF-PD  Software G-7 

Kid  Secure  of  America 110 

192    Knowledge  Adventure 107 

178    UCE 116 

LandTiark  Solutions.  Inc. ill 

136  Legendary  Design  Technoligies A-1? 

137  Legendary  Design  Techno  ogles A-22 

146    Living  Proof.  Ltd G-9 

255  Logitech  60,61 

250    Mad  IVlan  Software G-17 

138  Mallard 37 

194    Megagefvl A-17 

206    Micro  Electronics 51 

289    MicroStorm  Software   G-9 

191    Needhatps  Electronics.  Inc 115 

124    Neuralink A-17 

135    Ne*'  Horizons  SoftwafB G-9 

Ne*bridge  Book  Club  35 

133    Norris  Software A-23 

141  Odyssey  OnLine     112 

204    Origin    71 

164    Parsons  Technology 21 

106  Partr  Galen A-22 

250    PC  Enterprises 116 

Pencragon  Softwcire  Library 1 16 

Penthouse  Interactive  CD-ROM 90 

107  PenttiousB  tilodem 114 

103    Penlfiouse  Online 94 

142  Peoples  College 101 

153    Performance  Peripherals    G-9 

169    Pixel  Perfect 93 

Poor  Person  Software    A-17 

158    Power  Shareware A-22 

PowerDisk    .  .  G-13 

119    Professor  Jones,  Inc 109 

256  Protil  Group.  The    109 

Pure  EnlerlainmenI 94 

198  Puz2le  Factory,  The A-23 

Q  Enterprises  Software G-13 

257  Ramco  Computer  Sales   ,     ,  A-13 


212    SaleSoll  Systems  Inc .117 

183    School  ol  Compuler  Training 110 

111    School  ol  PC  Repair    110 

116    SeXXy 112 

171  Sfiareware  Central 117 

148    Sierra  Online BC 

109  Smart  lur;k  Sollware 112 

155    SMC  Sollware  Publlstiers 117 

196   SMC/Soltwate  Publishers  A-17 

126  SollShoppe 112 

195    Sollware  Studio A-17 

210    Soilware  Support  International 117 

190    Soltware  Support  International    G-5 

297    Software  Support  International A-23 

SOGWAP  Solfivare A-11 

SOGWAP  Software G-7 

203    Slar  Micronics    .13 

130    Starware  Publishing  Coip 115 

179    SubLogic 52,53 

147    Thrustmasler 115 

202    TEAS A-11 

193    Turlle  Beach  Systems  .  .  .  ,:. 92 

242    Tycom  Inc G-12 

301    US,  Robotics IBC 

127  Value  Soltware.Inc 117 

132    Virgin  Games IFC.I 

122    Virgin  Games 31 

267    Virgin  Games    78,79 

189    Walnut  Creek  CDROM    91 

172  Wedgwood  Computer 117 

128  Windows  900    114 

110  WOiySchool  ol  Computer  Training 41 

Product  Mart 109.110111,112.113,114,115,116,117 

Classilieds 118,119 

104    COMPUTE  Books    84,105,A-3,A-13,G-13 

OMNI  Books 90 


COMPUTE  Editor  900  line 93 

COMPUTE  Library  Cases 104 

COMPUTES  SharePak  Disk  Subsription 57 

Gaielfe  Disk  Subscription G-7 

Gazette  Index G-21 

Gazette  Proriuclivily  Manager  G-19 

Gazelle  Single  Disk  Order G-37 

Gazelle  Specially  Disks  G-2 

PC  Ultima  Power  Disk 47 


CREDITS 

Cover:  Mark  Wagoner;  page  4:  Joseph 
Drivas/lmage  Bank;  pages  6-7:  John 
Patrick/Scott  Hull  Associates;  page  18: 
Mark  Wagoner;  page  20:  Mark  Wagoner; 
page  22:  Mark  Wagoner;  page  26:  Mark 
Wagoner;  pages  58-59:  ©  1993  Theo 
Rudnak/SIS;  pages  66-67:  Mark  Wagon- 
er; pages  74-75:  Mark  Wagoner;  pages 
80-81:  Mark  Wagoner;  page  85:  ©  1993 
P.  Bliss/SIS;  page  A-5:  Pete  Turner/Image 
Bank;  page  G-3:  Westlight®. 


IMPORTANT  NOTICE 

FOR 

COMPUTE  DISK 

SUBSCRIBERS 

COMPUTE  offers  two  different  disk  products  for 
PC  readers:  fhe  SharePak  disk  and  PC  Disk, 
SharePok  is  monttiiy  and  has  o  subscripfion 
price  of  S59.95  for  S'A-incti  disks  and  $64.95  for 
3V2-incti  disks.  A  subscription  to  SharePak 
does  nof  include  a  subscripfion  to  the  maga- 
zine. PC  Disk  appears  in  odd-numbered 
months  and  has  a  subscription  price  of  $49.95, 
which  includes  a  subscription  to  COMPUTE.  You 
can  subscribe  to  either  disk  or  to  both,  but  a 
subscription  to  one  does  not  include  a  subscrip- 
tion to  the  other 


SEPTEIVlBER  1993     COMPUTE        97 


SPMKDP! 

We  at  COMPUTE 

strive  to  provide  you  with  the  latest 

and  most  useful  tiome,  business 

and  entertainment  computer  news 

and  information.  Now  we're 

opening  the  COMPUTE  EDITOR 

LINE-a  direct  link  to  our  editorial 

staff  that  lets  you  truly  participate 

in  the  shaping  of  COMPUTE 

Magazine. 

Using  this  program,  you  can 

comment  on  articles  and  features  in 

COMPUTE.  After  hearing  the 

introduction,  you'll  be  asked  to 

leave  a  message  for  the  editor  Your 

message  will  be  reviewed  and  may 

be  published  in  a  future  issue. 


Here's  how  it  works: 

1.  Call  the  COMPUTE  EDITOR 
LINE;  1-900-884-8681.  The 

charge  is  only  $0.95  per  min. 

2.  Select  the  month  of  the  issue 
you  want  to  talk  about. 

3.  Enter  the  extension  number 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  feature 
or  pictorial  spread  you  want  to 
discuss.  If  you  don't  have  the 
extension  number,  just  listen  to 
the  menu  selections,  and  they 
will  lead  you  to  the  proper 
extension  for  each  item. 

4.  Listen  to  the  comment  or 
information  corresponding  to  the 
feature  or  pictorial  you  selected. 

5.  Then,  at  the  tone,  leave  your 
desired  message! 

6.  If  you  would  like  to  make 
another  selection,  press '  *:*: '  to 
return  to  the  main  menu. 

PET  INC,  60X166,  Hllywd.,CA 
90078.  Must  be  18  or  older. 
Touch  Tone  phones  only. 


REVIEWS 


on  the  desk,  or  you  can  place  clip  art 
pictures  in  the  frame.  If  you  have  a 
sound  card  with  a  microphone,  a  re- 
corder on  the  desk  lets  you  and  your 
child  record  messages  to  one  another 
that  can  be  played  back. 

Kid  Desk  offers  a  unique — and 
quite  fun— menu  solution  just  for  kids, 
one  that  assures  children  have  fun 
while  parents'  files  and  applications  re- 
main safe  from  curious  hands. 

CAROL  ELLISON 


EdWark 

(206)  556-8484 

339.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  442 


INSTANT  ROLODEX 

Instant  Rolodex  isn't  the  most  complete 
personal  information  manager  (PIM)  on 
the  market,  but  it  may  be  the  perfect  or- 
ganizer for  smali-business  managers,  in- 
cluded in  this  package  are  an  eiectron- 
ic  Rolodex,  an  appointment  calendar, 
a  to-do  list,  and  sundry  utilities  for  print- 
ing forms,  cards,  and  labels.  To  make 
Instant  Rolodex  as  convenient  as  pos- 
sible, an  icon  bar  across  the  top  of  the 
main  window  and  various  toolboxes  ac- 
cess program  features  with  a  single  but- 
ton click. 

As  the  program's  name  suggests, 
the  Rolodex  module — an  address- 
book  database  using  a  Rolodex  meta- 
phor—is the  package's  focus.  The  Ro- 
lodex allows  you  not  only  to  create  and 
delete  address  cards  but  also  to  add 
notes  to  each  card.  Fields  in  the  data- 
base include  the  usual  name,  address, 
and  phone,  as  well  as  additional  fields 
for  storing  alternative  addresses;  fax, 
beeper,  home,  and  car  phone  num- 
bers; important  dates;  and  titles.  Nine 
user-defined  fields  let  you  personalize 
the  database  to  your  specific  needs. 

More  than  just  a  straight  Rolodex 
file.  Instant  Rolodex  provides  full  data- 
base search  features.  You  can  find  a 
card  by  searching  the  key  field,  or  you 
can  create  subgroups  of  cards  using 
search  logic  that  compares  specific 
fields  with  such  operators  as  equal-to, 
less-than,  greater-than,  and  between. 

The  calendar  can  be  viewed  as  an 
entire  year,  month,  or  week,  or  you  can 
bring  up  an  appointment  book  for  a  spe- 
cific day,  which  lists  by  time  all  activi- 
ties planned  for  that  day.  Scheduling 
events  is  as  easy  as  clicking  on  a  time 
and  typing  a  quick  description.  Recur- 
ring events  can  also  be  scheduled.  Fi- 
nally,  the  built-in  alarm  function  warns 
you  of  any  impending  event. 

The  to-do  list  is  Instant  Rolodex's 


weakest  feature.  While  you  can  check 
off  tasks  as  you  do  them,  the  tasks  ar- 
en't related  in  any  way  to  the  calendar. 
In  other  words,  all  tasks  appear  in  a  sin- 
gle list  that  can  be  prioritized  by  task 
but  not  by  date. 

Despite  its  weak  task  handling,  in- 
stant Rolodex  is  perfect  for  business 
folks  with  modest  needs.  When  you 
add  its  ability  to  dial  numbers  and 
send  faxes.  Instant  Rolodex  is  a  fine 
package  at  a  great  price. 

CLA-rTON  WALNUM 

DacEasy 

(800)  222-8778 

S49,95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  443 

THRUSTMASTER 
RUDDER  CONTROL 
SYSTEM 

If  you  spend  much  time  flying  flight  sim- 
ulators, you  know  that  reaching  for  the 
keyboard  can  be  the  kiss  of  death.  Se- 
rious sim  fans  have  looked  to  Thrust- 
Master  for  relief;  the  company's  Flight 
Control  System  and  Weapons  Control 
System  put  most  of  the  controls  on  the 
joystick  and  throttle,  respectively.  This 
simulates  the  HOTAS  (Hands  On  Throt- 
tle And  Stick)  approach  used  in  mod- 
ern jet  fighters.  Even  then,  though, 
you're  still  forced  to  use  the  keyboard 
for  rudder  control,  which  can  be  a  dead- 
ly distraction  when  lining  up  for  a  diffi- 
cult strafing  run  or  landing  approach. 

The  Thrustfy/laster  Rudder  Control  Sys- 
tem solves  this  problem  by  giving  your 
virtual  cockpit  a  set  of  authentic  rudder 
pedals.  Real  aircraft  use  rudder  pedals 
to  control  yaw — a  movement  of  the 
plane's  nose  to  the  left  or  right  without 
banking.  Rudder  pedals  come  into 
play  most  often  when  lining  up  for  land- 
ing, conducting  strafing  runs,  or  engag- 
ing in  slow  air  combat.  If  you're  shoot- 
ing at  an  enemy  plane  and  you  see 
your  tracers  are  flying  by  just  to  the 
right  of  the  plane's  cockpit,  for  in- 
stance, a  quick  kick  of  the  left  rudder 
pedal  will  likely  score  a  kill. 

Unlike  some  less  expensive  pedals 
that  place  the  footpads  right  next  to 
each  other,  the  ThrustMaster  pedals 
are  distanced  almost  20  inches  apart, 
allowing  you  to  sit  in  a  comfortable, 
natural  position.  (I  often  use  them  as 
footrests  when  I'm  not  flying  simula- 
tors.) They're  very  sturdily  constructed, 
built  of  gold-anodized  aluminum  and 
ABB  plastic,  which  is  good  for  a  device 
whose  main  purpose  is  to  be  kicked 
around.  The  heavy  construction  and  rub- 
ber feet  on  the  bottom  of  the  pedals 
keep  them  in  place  on  wood  or  tile 


98 


COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


t 

ji    ■   '^ 

_      ^ 

P^ 

(800) 

638-i 

>rders      Only 

i 

s 

Y&&   ^|«'^'^ 

5757 

r 

Software 

V    , 

w^ 

mm 

■ 

International  Orders:  (812)  376 

'*-4186FAXi 

Orders:  (8 

12, 

I  376-9970 

L^ 

w 

VjS^ 

Chestnut""*15 

All-in-one  CD  Bundle 
Teiel  DM-30Z4  Dou  ble  Speed  CD-ROM  Drive 

H  H  Internal.  26Sm5  ave  access.  64K  buffer,  30aKB,sec  transfer  '■ 

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rate  (hurst  of  l  ,5MB;secl.  SCSI.2  drive,  rugged  manual  eiect  bunon.  headphone  tack,  vol- 

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Bibies  &  RDligion  •  New  &  Old  Testaments,  study  guides,  covers  Judaism,  Christianity,  Islam 

ume  control,  sell-cleaning  tens,  dust 

resistant  seal,  meets  all  MPC  speciticati 

3ns.  Kodak 

ftjl  I  1  1  4  i  »•»  j- 

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Clipart  GollBtll    Thcusands  of  images  for  all  g$es.  in  PCX  a  TIFF  (orrralt  For  DTP  prograins 

Photo  CD  compatible 

M  U  1 1 1  m  G  u  1  ci 

Colossal  Cockbook  -  Mom 

rocipes  Ihar  "Joy  of  Cool,ing",  Plus  nutirlion  guides,  mora 

Pro  Audio  Spectrum  16 
SCSI  host  adaptor  and  sound  card.  Compatible  with;  MPC  and  M 
Sound  Blaster,  &  Real  Sound.  Digital  sai^olino  a  playback  uo  to  AA 

ComplelD  Bookshop-  An 
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entire  bookshop,  tnclutJes;  classics,  poetry,  humor,  history,  morel 
EKClTing  VGA  space  wars,  stiootem-jps.  sports.  &  more 

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TectTinoToois    C'C^  < ,  Basic,  dBase,  nerwor^mg.  Unix,  0S2,  Windows,  assembly,  Pascal,  moiei 

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sample  issue: 

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( :; .ir.iirtn^'p  rail  for  our  latest  catalog. 

MPC  Solware  Toolworks  Encyclopedia  (Groliersl.  MPC  US  Atlas. 
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Creative  Labs 

abillnl  16bl>nl       Mitsumi  CD.ROr.1  HH  Internal    199.00       Dlimond  Soni:Sound  Pro           339.00 

Future  Domain  16  bit  kit 

159  00 

Diamond  Stealth  24 

179.00 

DiSCOvgfy  Kil 

429.00     "199.00       Toxel  DM3024  (dirvB  ohiy)           399.00       Diamond  Sonr:Souna                 239  00 

Futufo  Domain  S  bit  kit 

69-00 

Diamond  Viper  2MB 

449.00 

Edulainment  Kii 

49900     57900       Toshiba  XhJ-aiOlB  (drive  only)  499.00       Pro  Audio  Spectrum  IG                17900 

Tranlor  B  bit 

65.00 

Pro  Movie  Speclrum 

299-00 

Business  r^M  Upgrade  Kit 

579.00     639.00                           MiscellanDOU!)                        Sound  Blaster  Delu»e                    99  00 

Sseihera 

VKleo  Blaster 

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MediaVision  Fysion  CD16 

499.00       Caddies                                          5.00       Sound  Btaslar  Pro  Deluxe            1 29  00 

Labtec  Amplified  Speakers 

25,00 

VGA  Card,  Truecoksr;  640i480x16.7M, 

CD  Cleaner                                     12.00       SoundbtasterlB  asp                    219  00 

Altec  Lansing  ACS  1 00 

149,00 

1 7  Million  Winmahti 

119.00 

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CO-ROM  Software                                                                                 1 

Buslneaa 

Educsllonal                    Deadzono  Jr 

69.00  Murmurs  of  Earth 

49,00  Etec  Cookbook  NB 

59.00  Shareware  Tiger 

3000 

Amoiican  Business  Ph  Bk 

29.00  A  Plus  Grade  Builder                39.00  Dealhstar  Arcade 

15.00  Peter  iWolt 

25,00  Encyc  W\M  5.0,  S.T. 

49.00  Shrwre  Overload 

15.00 

Business  BacKgrnunOs 

35.00  About  Cows                              29.00  Fantasy  Fisldom 

69.00  Pater  RaWjl 

39,00  Encyc  Win  1.0.  S.T. 

49.00  Shwre  Extravaganza 

49.00 

Business  Master 

19.00  Amanda  Stories                        49.00  Future  Wars 

49.00  Putt  Pull  Parade 

59,00  Food  Analyst 

45-00  Shwre  Studio 

33-00 

Nonti  Amefican  Fax  Book 

45.00  Amazing  Universe                    69.00  Game  Master 

19.00  Readers  Library 

25.00  Guiness  1 992 

19-00  So  Much  Shwre  1 

19.00 

O&A 

59.00  American  Indians                     39.00  Goferwinltles Adventures 

45.00  Shakespeare 

19.00  Guiness  1993 

59.00  So  Much  Shwre  2 

2500 

Cdpan  &  Graphics 

Ahimgis,  The                            29.00  Guy  Spy 

39.00  Sherlock  Literary 

19.00  KGB.CIA  Faclbook 

33.00  Soflware  Vault 

33-00 

Animals  in  Motion 

39.00  Ahhabel's  Dream                      69.00  House  of  Games 

19.00  Sleeping  Beauty 

25,00  Langs  of  World 

39.00  Top  2000.  Shwre 

30.00 

ApoHo  (Space  Series.) 

39.00  Anhur  Teacher  Trouble            27.00  Iron  Helix 

59.00  Storytime  VI 

35.00  Lesko  Information  USA 

69.00  Ultimalo  Shwre  Coll 

30.00 

Audutx}n  BKds 

29.00  Barney  Bear  Sctiool                  35  00  Jones  in  Fast  Lane 

Z6  00  Storytrme  V2 

35,00  M  S  Bookshelf 

69.00  Win  Shwre  Gold 

33.00 

Audutxjn  Mammals 

29.00  Barney  Bear  Space                 35.00  Jutland 

69.00  Storytrmo  V3 

35  00  Masterpiece  Library 

35.00  Window  Master 

19.00 

Clipan  Gpioffi 

35.00  Bible  Lands  «  Stories               49.00  King's  Quest  5 

25.00  Tate  of  Peter  Rabbit 

29,00  Mayo  Clinic 

29.00  Windoware 

15D0 

Clipari  Goliath 

15.00  Career  Opportunities                35.00  Ktotski 

25.00  Thomas  Snow  Suit 

29,00  McMillan  Diclnry  for 

Children 

49.00  Windows  1993 

25.00 

CiipaJl  Heaven 

29.00  Carmen  San  Diego                   29.00  Loom 

25.00  World  Greatest  Boo^s 

45  00  Mega  Movie  Guide 

49-00  World  Vrsion 

4500 

Clipmasler  Pro 

30.00  Ciyit  V^ar                                  39.00  Manhole 

45.x                     MisceUarteou. 

Microsoft  Encaha 

299-00                  Tram 

Complete  Audubon 

59  00  Dinosaur  Adventures                49.00  Mantis 

59-00  Classic  Collection 

69-00  Middle  East  Diary 

39.00  Call  Golf  Guide 

4500 

Empire  Clip  Art 

29.00  Distant  Suns                             99.00  Mud  Puddle 

29-00  KoOak  Photo  CD 

29,00  Monarch  Notes 

69.00  Catitornia  Travel 

45.00 

Encyctopedja  of  Clip  An 

25.00  Ecoquesl                                  49.00  Pacitic  Islands 

35.00  r.<PC  Wizard 

15.00  latficcr  Bookcase 

39-00  Global  Explorer 

9900 

Fontmasler  Vl 

15.00  Education  Master                      19.00  PC  Sig  Games 

15.00  Murmurs  ol  Earth 

4500  Oxfcrd  English  Ret  Lib 

119O0  Great CitiesVI 

35.00 

Fontmasler  V2 

19.00  European  Monarchs                 36.00  Rodney  Fun  House 

49.00  Mautilus  Mini  Subscnption 

25,00  Global  Explorer 

99,00  Great  Cities  V2 

3500 

Fonts  lor  the  Pro  Publisher 

29.00  Learn  Speak  Spanish               79  00  Rotor 

19.00  PC  Medic 

29,00  Plant  Doctor 

39  00  National  Parks 

».00 

Fresh  Arte 

35.00  Line  &  Shape  Eater                  35.00  Secret  y  Luflwalfe 

29  OO  Tempra  Access 

25  00  Prescript.  Drugs 

39.00  Street  Atlas  USA 

39  00 

Full  Bloom 

35.00  Long  Hard  Day .  Ranch           29.00  Secret  Monkey  Island 

39.00  US  Atlas  w  Automap 

29,00 

GEFs  Galore 

1 5,00  Lyric  Language  French             49.00  Seventh  Guest 

59.00  Composer  Quest 

69.00  Pro  Phone  1993 

129,00  Wodd  Traveller 

1500 

Hot  Stutl  1 

1 9.00  Lyric  Language  Spar^ish           49.00  Sherlock  Cons  1 

25-00  Encyctopedia  ot  Sound 

1 5.00  Reterenoe  Lib,  S.T. 

25.00          AiulMlaYerllOHltl 

HotStuK2 

25.00  Mavis  Teach  Typing                   25.00  Shedock  Cons  2 

49.00  Grammys 

59-00  Roger  Eben 

39-00  Adult  Ref  Library 

25.00 

Impressionism 

35  00  Moving  .  Stomach  Actie            29.00  Shedock  Cons  Del  III 

59.00  M/M  Beethoven 

69.00  Terrorist  Group  Pro 

39.00  Animation  Fantasies  1 

33O0 

inpfint  Library 

59.00  Mat  Geo9  Mammals               29.00  Software  Jukebo< 

35,00  M'W  Jazz 

$9.C0  Time  Almanac 

29  00  Animation  Fantasies  2 

3300 

Island  Designs 

35  00  Our  House                               49.00  Space  Adventure 

69.00  Mozan 

35,00  Time  Oeserl  Stomi 

29,00  Asian  Ladies 

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49.00  Our  Solar  Syslem                     15.00  Space  Quest  IV 

25.00  Sound  Sensations 

1 5.0O  Time  Table  History 

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Just  Fonts 

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33-00  Sound  Wav 

2900  Total  Baseball 

55.00  CD  Movies 

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29  00  Scary  Poems  for  Rotten  Kids    29.00  Spnte 

30.00  Sounds  tor  Windows 

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39,00  Digital  Dreams 

2500 

Lovely  Ladies  11 

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35-00  Soundworks 

19.00  Vietnam  Vats 

39.00  Oidy  Talk 

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35.00  SLS  French                              69.00  Stellar  7 

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29,00  Vital  Signs 

69,00  Ecstasy 

29.00 

Money.  Money.  Money 

35.00  SLS  German                            69.00  Whale  of  a  Tale 

69.00                  Programming 

Worki  Atlas 

25-00  Ency  of  Exotic  Animations 

25.00 

Mother  Earth  II 

33.00  SLS  Japanese                          69.00  Who  Krtled  Sam  flupen 

39.00  C  Source  Users  Lib 

25.00  WorH  Factbook 

29,00  Erotic  Encounters 

30-00 

Mother  of  All  Clip  Art 

15.00  SLS  Spanish                            69.00  Willy  Beamish 

25.00  CICA  Microsoft  Wrn 

15.00                      S/iareware 

Gilty  Gold 

3300 

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33.00  Slichylwar  Preschool                37.00  Wing  CMDR  2\0PS 

55,00  Garbo 

15-00  All  American  M\M 

33,00  HotPiK2 

33.00 

Pop  a  Politics 

59.00  Twelve  Roads  To  Gettysburg    59.00  Wing  CMDR  2iUlt  Undrgr 

nd      55.00  OS12  Hobbes 

15.00  Amsolt  Workl  of  Ham  Radio 

39-00  Hot  PiM  3 

33.00 

Publiquu  Arte 

39.00  US  Crirrcs                                 39.00  Wolfpack 

49,00  Programmers  ROW 

39.00  Bakers  Dozen 

16,00  HotPix4 

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Publishers  Dream  Disk 

39.00  US  History                                30.00  Wrath  of  Demon 

19  00  Simtol  20 

15.00  California  Collection 

1 5.00  Moving  Fantasies 

29-00 

Publishers  Paradise 

29.00  US  Presidents                          39.00                       Lllfralme 

Source  C  CD 

19.00  Daytime  Express 

20.00  PC  Pix  1 

33  00 

Publish  it  2,0  [DOS) 

29.00  US  Wars;  Korea                       39.00  Aesops  Fables 

35,00  Technotools 

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CIrels  Realtor  Service  Number  115 


REVIEWS 


floors.  If  you're  using  them 
on  a  carpeted  surface, 
some  Veicro  may  be  helpful 
for  keeping  tfiem  from  get- 
ting shoved  around. 

Many  MS-DOS  flight  sim- 
ulators support  rudder  ped- 
als, including  Aces  of  the  Pa- 
cific, Comanche:  Maximum 
Overkill,  Falcon  3.0,  Gun- 
ship  2000,  Flight  Simulator 
4,  ATP,  Flight  of  the  Intrud- 
er, and  A-10  Tank  Killer  1.5. 
ThrustMaster  sells  a  special 
TSR  that  will  add  rudder  ped- 
al support  to  Secret  Weap- 
ons of  the  Luftwaffe.  The  on- 
ly problem  I  encountered 
was  trying  to  use  the  Thrust- 
Master  PCS  joystick  control- 
ler and  the  Rudder  Control 
System  with  Flight  Simulator 
4;  Ihe  coolie-hat  switch  on 
the  top  must  be  disabled  {re- 
quiring you  to  add  a  switch 
to  the  stick  yourself)  for  the 
program  to  function  correct- 
ly, The  pedals  worked  fine 
with  Flight  Simulator  4  and  a 
different  joystick.  I  also  suc- 
cessfully tested  the  pedals 
using  an  adapter  cabie  on 
an  Amiga  4000  running  Fight- 
er Duel  Pro. 

Although  the  Rudder  Con- 
trol System  is  a  bit  expen- 
sive for  the  occasional  play- 
er, serious  simulator  pilots 
will  find  it  well  worth  the  mon- 
ey for  the  added  control 
and  realism  it  affords. 

DENNY  ATKIN 

ThrustMastef 

(503)  639-3200 

$149.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  444 

AV-8B  HARRIER 
ASSAULT 

Like  the  redoubtable  jump 
jet,  Domark's  AV-8B  Harrier 
Assault  takes  off  in  more 
than  one  direction.  Not  only 
is  it  a  flight  simulator,  but  it's 
also  a  war  game  based  on 
a  somewhat  unlikely,  UN- 
backed  invasion  of  the  Indi- 

100        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


an  Ocean  island  of  Timor. 
Likely  or  not,  though,  both  el- 
ements are  quite  creditable. 
Each  benefits  from  the  oth> 
ar,  with  the  result  that  Harri- 
er Assault's  whole  is  greater 
than  the  sum  of  its  parts. 

For  starters,  the  flight  sim 
is  far  superior  to  Domark's 
previous  effort  in  this  field, 


that  makes  a  computer  pilot 
feel  he's  not  operating  in  a 
vacuum — that  the  mission 
has  more  than  an  imagined 
impact  on  the  game's  flow — 
is  valuable,  and  Harrier  As- 
sault conveys  this  well,  albe- 
it in  a  somewhat  abstract 
way.  It  allows  you  to  order 
amphibious  landings,  to  set 


Domark's  AV-8B  Harrier  Assault  is  now  available  in  a  special  Super 
VGA  version  for  computers  wilti  S3  video  chips. 


tvliG-29  Fulcrum,  and  com- 
pares favorably  to  Micro- 
Prose's  Jump  Jet.  Harrier  As- 
sault flies  beautifully,  with  a 
smooth-as-butter  update  on 
a  486/33  (a  16-MHz  386  ma- 
chine is  the  minimum  recom- 
mended) and  a  delightful 
view.  I  liked  the  hazy  hori- 
zons and  the  way  terrain 
emerges  from  mist  as  land- 
fall approaches,  lending  a 
you-are-there  sense  of  mom- 
entousness.  I  liked  the 
slight  lag  to  the  controls,  a 
feel  more  realistic  than  that 
of  some  turn-on-a-dime 
flight  Sims.  And  I  liked  all 
the  stuff  on  the  ground — 
even  the  stuff  shooting  at 
me.  It's  a  lively  place,  this  Ti- 
mor. {Wish  the  explosions 
were  spiffier,  though.) 

The  war  game  is  fought 
out  on  a  console — a  sharp 
SVGA  screen — aboard  your 
flotilla's  flagship.  Anything 


up  air  missions  against  an 
aggressive,  intelligent  ene- 
my, and  to  zoom  in  on  indi- 
vidual trees,  if  you  wish  (I'm 
not  certain  what  this  is  good 
for,  but  you  can  do  it).  This 
isn't  anything  especially 
new — games  such  as  Fal- 
con 3,0,  ATAC,  and  Cam- 
paign are  ail  variations  on 
this  strategy/action  combina- 
tion—but it  gets  damnably  in- 
volving here  when  you 
know  that  what  you  do 
counts. 

Harrier  Assault  doesn't 
have  the  most  intuitive  com- 
mand screen  I've  ever 
seen,  but  its  complexities 
are  nicely  unraveled  in  a  sub- 
stantial, plain-English  manu- 
al. (But  next  time,  use  some- 
thing stickier  than  chewing 
gum  to  bind  it,  folks,) 

It's  also  at  the  command 
screen  that  the  program  com- 
mits some  rather  basic  tech- 


nical gaffes.  I  consistently 
ran  into  crashes  (the  comput- 
er kind)  when  plotting  mis- 
sion way  points  on  a 
zoomed-in  tactical  screen, 
and  I  couldn't  get  the 
mouse  pointer  below  the 
top  third  of  the  screen. 
(There's  a  work-around  for 
the  latter  problem — use  a 
joystick  instead  of  the 
mouse — and  a  fix  is  availa- 
ble from  Domark.) 

But  that's  it  for  flak.  Other- 
wise, this  Harrier  goes  up 
like  a  rocket. 

PETEH  OLAFSON 

Domark 

(415)513-8929 

$59.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  445 

AIR  BUCKS 
VERSION  1.2 

A  version  number  in  a 
game's  title  is  a  pretty  sure 
sign  that  the  game  in  ques- 
tion is  a  flight  simulator:  Wit- 
ness Flight  Simulator  4,0,  Fal- 
con 3,0,  and  Chuck  Yea- 
ger's  Flight  Trainer  2.0,  You 
could  hardly  be  blamed  for 
figuring  Air  Bucks  version 
1.2  to  be  a  flight  sim  as 
well. 

It  is,  but  only  in  an  ab- 
stract sense,  Air  Bucks  1.2 
is  a  substantially  improved 
version  of  Impressions'  well- 
received  airline  simulator, 
and  it's  first  class  all  the 
way. 

You're  placed  in  charge 
of  a  startup  company  with  a 
base  of  operations  (Miami) 
and  a  little  pool  of  money 
($100,000).  Over  the  years 
(beginning  in  1946),  you're 
expected  to  transform  the 
company  into  the  talk  of  the 
industry.  You  can't  control 
the  weather  or  the  baggage- 
handlers'  union,  but  you  do 
have  intimate  control  over 
capital  expenditures  such 
as  new  planes,  landing 
rights,  routing,  fares,  adver- 


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OF     INDEPRNDENT      STUDIES 


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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  142 


REVEWS 


tising,  and  maintenance — 
all  handled  rather  elegantly 
via  the  mouse  or  keyboard. 

Of  course,  there  are  as 
many  as  three  other  little  air- 
lines — controlled  either  by 
the  computer  or  other  aspir- 
ing Richard  Bransons — try- 
ing to  pull  the  same  stunt. 
They  are  acquiring  landing 
rights  in  the  same  cities  and 
flying  the  same  domestic 
and  intercontinental  routes. 
And  your  board  of  directors 
is  watching  how  you  do. 

It's  easy  to  play,  even  vi'ith- 
out  the  manuals,  and  easy 
to  enjoy.  {Beating  out  the 
competition  is  quite  another 
matter.}  There  are  lots  of 
pleasant  little  features — espe- 
cially on  the  fare-setting 
screen— and  detailed  finan- 
cial information  is  always  at 
your  fingertips.  You  can 
even  invent  your  airline's  slo- 
gan— a  charming  touch — or 
pay  for  market  research  to 
tell  how  you're  doing.  It's  all 
nicety  knit  together,  so  it's 
never  overwhelming.  And 
the  hours  spent  in  Air  Bucks 
drift  by  unbidden. 

Unlike  some  corporate 
Sims  like  Black  Gold  (oil)  or 
Ports  of  Call  (freighters),  how- 
ever, this  one  doesn't  have 
any  lighthearted  arcade  ex- 
tras (no  lining  up  incoming 
planes  with  runway  lights  or 
extracting  seagulls  from  a  tur- 
bine engine).  It's  still  a 
game,  naturally,  but  it's  also 
a  broad  business  simulation 
as  opposed  to  a  toy.  And 
though  it  has  been  sweet- 
ened with  digitized  sound, 
256-color  graphics,  and 
some  modest  animation,  it 
never  bumps  that  basic 
premise,  (The  music's  de- 
lightful, too;  it  seems  to  take 
off  from  Ultima  VI.} 

My  only  objections  are  a 
certain  lack  of  integration — 
it  would  be  nice  to  be  able 
to  see  and  edit  everything 
about  a  route  and  its  planes 
on  a  single  screen — and  the 

102        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


AirBucks  1.2  from  Impressions  isn'ta  traditional  flight  simulator  but 
is  instead  an  innovative  airline  simulator 


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I  lir      itltX     }tKLUjti      Fipii!      !i*!lci.l      t_.ivijiil      Wimiiiw!:      HFlji j 


M^zi^lviOj-^Jaj^lEii? 


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All  II  FuT;.t:)-j  ■.■Kh;.}<::\ 


Dynodex  for  Windows  manages  not  only  names,  addresses,  and 
pfione  numbers,  but  your  important  notes  as  well. 


absence  of  online  help.  An 
Are  you  sure?  requester 
might  have  headed  off  situ- 
ations in  which,  for  example, 
you  assign  a  plane  to  a 
route  that  exceeds  its  range 
or  neglect  to  assign  ticket 
prices.  (Passengers  then  fly 
free.) 

For  registered  owners  of 
the  original  Air  Bucks,  ver- 
sion 1 .2  is  available  free  as 
an  upgrade.  (There  have 
been  a  host  of  user-suggest- 
ed changes,  so  basically  it's 
smarter,  prettier,  and  better 
stocked  with  info.)  Impres- 
sions also  makes  upgrades 


to  Air  Bucks  and  its  other 
products  available  through 
its  online  support  area  on 
the  CompuServe  online  net- 
work. And  if  you  haven't  al- 
ready had  the  pleasure  of  fly- 
ing the  not-so-friendly  skies, 
be  sure  all  carry-on  luggage 
is  safely  stowed  and  raise 
your  seat  back  to  its  full  up- 
right position.  You're  in  for  a 
delightful  ride. 

PETER  OLAFSON 


Impressions 
(203)  676-9002 
$59-95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Njmber  446 


DYNODEX  FOR 
WINDOWS 

Tired  of  thumbing  through 
the  Rolodex  every  time  you 
need  a  name  or  number? 
Dynodex,  a  contacts  data- 
base, can  save  you  from 
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options — such  as  printing  ad- 
dress books  and  dialing 
your  telephone — that  may 
prove  very  useful  to  your 
business. 

Dynodex  is  a  Windows  da- 
tabase application  that  man- 
ages the  names,  numbers, 
and  addresses  of  those  cru- 
cial to  your  business's  oper- 
ation, as  well  as  any  notes 
you  may  want  to  keep  track 
of.  It  can  print  such  things 
as  address  books,  mailing  la- 
bels, rotary  cards,  and  enve- 
lopes. Phone-dialing  options 
are  also  available.  All  you 
need  to  begin  are  an  IBM 
PC  or  compatible  computer, 
2MB  of  RAM,  a  hard  drive 
with  2MB  of  available 
space,  a  VGA  display,  DOS 
version  3.1  or  higher,  Micro- 
soft Windows  3.1  or  higher, 
a  floppy  drive,  and  a  Micro- 
soft-compatible mouse. 

The  Icon  Palette  at  the 
top  of  the  screen  allows  you 
to  toggle  back  and  forth  be- 
tween previously  recorded 
data  or  enter  information  for 
a  new  record.  You  may  then 
proceed  to  delete  or  edit 
the  record,  or  you  can 
search,  select,  and  sort  the 
records  by  specific  data. 
There's  also  a  List  window 
that  shows,  in  alphabetical  or- 
der, all  the  records  you've  re- 
corded. You  can  highlight 
the  name  you  wish  to  look 
up,  click  your  mouse,  and 
voila!  There  it  is  before  your 
eyes.  For  information  such 
as  the  names  of  cities, 
states,  and  countries, 
there's  a  drop-down  list  box 
you  can  open  with  your 
mouse.  It  will  allow  you  to 


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Audubon  Mammals  37 
Autcdesk  Explorer  11 9 
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C  D  Speedway  57 
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Marketing  Master  39 
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fer it  somewhere  else,  such  as  a  letter 
or  label.  Another  shortcut  that  Dynodex 
offers  is  entering  data  by  using  short- 
hand keys.  With  city  names,  for  exam- 
ple, you  can  simply  enter  the  letter  A, 
and  the  name  Aspen  will  appear  in  the 
city  field.  Options  like  this  make  Dyn- 
odex quite  a  timesaver. 

If  you  need  to  make  changes  to  a 
large  number  of  records  and  don't 
want  to  enter  the  data  manually,  Dyn- 
odex will  change  each  record  globally 
if  you  simply  tell  it  what  to  find  and  the 
correction  that  should  be  made.  If 
you're  not  sure  of  the  exact  spelling  of 
a  word,  you  can  use  a  question  mark 
as  a  placeholder  for  a  letter,  and  Dyn- 
odex  will  locate  words  that  could  fit 
your  example, 

If  you  want  to  share  files,  Dynodex 
for  Windows  is  compatible  with  Dyn- 
odex for  the  Apple  Macintosh.  Dyn- 
odex can  also  import  information  from 
software  applications  such  as  Micro- 
soft Word  and  other  Windows  word- 
processing  programs  so  that  you  won't 
have  to  waste  time  retyping  data. 

Dynodex  is  a  complete  contacts  da- 
tabase, with  ail  the  options  a  success- 
ful business  should  have.  For  all  the 
time  that  Dynodex  will  save  you  and 
the  intuitiveness  it  provides,  it  is  well 
worth  the  low  suggested  retail  price. 

KiM  HAVLENA 

Portfolio 

(800)  SAY-DYhJO 

(408)  252-0420 

SB9.95 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  447 


BESTBOOKS 


Though  the  dividing  lines  aren't  crystal- 
clear,  financial  management  software 
falls  into  three  basic  groups:  personal 
finance  products  such  as  Quicken  and 
fvlanaging  Your  fVloney  (used,  too,  by 
small  businesses):  entry-level  account- 
ing packages  (such  as  DacEasy  and 
One-Write  Plus)  used  by  small  and  mid- 
sized businesses:  and  professional 


packages  (generally  sold  as  separate 
modules  that  integrate)  used  by 
CPAs. 

Teleware — which  brought  us  the  pop- 
ular entry-level  product  MYOB  for  the 
PC  and  Macintosh — has  released  a 
product  positioned  somewhere  be- 
tween the  first  tv/o  classes  of  financial 
software.  BestBooks,  at  a  suggested  re- 
tail price  of  $99.  is  aimed  at  users 


BestBooks  is  an  entry-level  accounting 
package  for  home  and  small  business  use. 

who've  outgrown  their  personal  finance 
packages  but  don't  need  all  the  fea- 
tures of  the  midrange  systems. 

Though  it  lacks  sophisticated  inven- 
tory tracking,  purchase  orders,  a  real- 
time balance  sheet,  P&L  analysis,  and 
customer  contact  management,  Best- 
Books  looks  and  feels  much  like  its  big 
sister,  MYOB. 

Predefined  Charts  of  Accounts  for 
more  than  30  types  of  businesses 
make  it  easy  for  you  to  get  up  and  run- 
ning quickly. 

The  main  screen's  Command  Center 
quickly  shows  you  that  the  program's 
functions  are  divided  into  Lists,  Check- 
book, Sales  &  Receivables,  Purchases 
&  Payables,  Card  File,  and  Administra- 
tion. Click  on  one  of  those  buttons,  and 
a  small  flow  chart  in  the  right  side  of 
the  box  illustrates  the  logical  order  to 
go  through  tasks  in  that  function.  Then 
click  on  the  desired  function,  and  Be- 
stBooks pops  up  the  correct  form. 

As  is  standard  in  most  of  today's  fi- 
nancial software,  forms  resemble  their 
real-life  counterparts.  You  simply  fill 
them  out.  customizing  their  layout  first 
if  you  want.  To  speed  up  data  entry, 
keystroke  combinations  pop  up  lists  of 
your  customers  and  vendors,  for  exam- 
ple, and  "zooming  arrows"  give  you  ac- 
cess to  deeper  detail.  If  you're  in  the 


CWlBTOMJlftBUgS 


^  i  -^ 


COMPUTE'S 

Conquering  Zelda™ 

Adventures 

$12.95 

The  step-by-step  guide  to  The 
Legend  of  Zelda.  The  Adventure  of 
Lirtfe,  and  TCii'  Legend  of  Zelda.  A  Link 
to  the  Past.  Packed  full  of  maps, 
flints,  and  strategies. 


NEW 

from 

COMPUTE 


To  order  send  the  appropriate  amount  plus 
S2.50  sliipping  and  liandling  (LI.S.,  S4  to  Cana- 
da and  S6  other)  to  COMPUTE  Bool<s,  c/o 
CCC,  2500  McClellan  Ave.,  Pennsaul<en,  NJ 
08109.  (Residents  of  NC,  NJ,  and  NY  please 
add  appropriate  tax;  Canadian  orders  add  7% 
Goods  and  Services  Tax.)  All  orders  must  be 
paid  in  U.S.  funds  drawn  on  a  U.S.  bank.  Offer 
good  while  supplies  last. 

Nintendo,  The  Legend  o1  Zelda,  and  Super  Mario 
Bros,  are  registered  trademarks  and  The  Adventure  of 
Link  and  the  Legend  of  Zelda,  A  Link  to  the  Past  are 
trademarks  of  Nintendo  of  America  Inc.  which  has  not 
endorsed  either  of  these  books. 


SECONO  EPITIOf^ 


COMPUTE'S 

Conquering 

Super  Mario  Bros.® 

Adventures 

$10.95 

Sizzling  tips  for  defeating  Super 
Mario  Bros.  I.  2.  3  and  the  new 
SNES  Super  Mario  Worid. 


From 


Pro 

LInUs 

$16.97 


The  Official  Guide  to  Links  and  Micro- 
soft Golf.  Includes  instructions  for 
playing  all  nine  of  the  original 
Links  and  Microsoft  Golf  courses. 
For  all  versions  of  Links  and  Micro- 
soft Golf,  including  Linb  386  Pro. 


TRACKS 

To 

UNKS 

COMPUTE 

has  the  hints 
you  need. 

To  order  send  $16.95  per  copy  pitjs 
$2.50  for  sfiipping  and  handling  (U.S., 
$4  to  Canada  and  $6  other)  to  COtvl- 
PUTE  Books,  c/o  CCC,  2500  McClellan 
Ave.  Pennsauken,  NJ  08109.  (Resi- 
dents of  NC,  NJ,  and  NY  please  add 
appropriate  tax;  Canadian  orders  add 
7%  Goods  and  Services  Tax.)  All  or- 
ders must  be  paid  in  U.S.  funds  drawn 
on  a  U.S.  bank.  Orders  will  be  shipped 
via  UPS  Ground  Service.  Offer  good 
while  supplies  last. 


A-TraIn 

RAilROAdiNq 

$16.95 

The  definitive  A-Train  strategy 
guide.  Filled  with  playing  tips,  rail- 
road lore,  and  tiistoric  photo- 
graphs. For  the  PC,  Macintosh,  and 
Amiga  versions  and  the  A-Train 
Construction  Set. 


REVIEWS 


card  file  and  click  on  a  com- 
pany name,  a  dialog  box 
pops  up  to  show  you  its  tax 
and  credit  terms  and  sales 
history. 

As  is  also  standard,  Best- 
Books  doesn't  require  you 
to  know  "CPA-ese";  wtiile  it 
performs  double-entry  book- 
keeping, it  uses  terminology 
easily  understood  by  some- 
one not  well  versed  in  book- 
keeping language.  And  ai! 
the  program's  functions  are 
integrated,  which  avoids  rep- 
etition of  data  entry  and,  ul- 
timately, speeds  up  the  ac- 
counting process. 

More  than  70  reports  can 
be  customized  and  printed, 
including  21  financial  re- 
ports (P&L,  Balance  Sheet, 
Trial  Balance),  six  check- 
book reports,  and  23  sales 
reports.  The  program  also 
lets  you  memorize  transac- 
tions for  recurring  entry  and 
post  transactions  alone  or  in 
batches.  It  prints  labels, 
keeps  an  updated  to-do  list, 
reconciles  accounts,  and 
has  password  protection. 

BestBooks  lacks  a  payroll 
module,  and  it's  not  a  multi- 
user system.  But  it's  a  great 
choice  for  many  users  who  ha- 
ven't yet  found  an  exact  fit  in 
the  accounting  software  mar- 
ket, or  who've  outgrown  less- 
powerful  products. 

KATHY  YAKAL 

Teleware 

(800)  322-6962 

$99 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  446 


PRIMERA 


Color  printing  has  traditional- 
ly been  an  expensive,  time- 
consuming  process,  particu- 
larly when  you're  iooking  for 
the  kind  of  color  you  can  on- 
ly get  from  thermal  transfer 
printing.  Fargo  Electronics, 
a  producer  of  bar-code  print- 
ers, has  attempted  to  elimi- 
nate the  expense  and  delay 

106        COMPUTE     SEPTEMBER  1993 


involved  in  the  thermal  trans- 
fer process.  The  Primera  is  in- 
expensive (at  least  when 
compared  to  other  printers 
of  similar  technology)  and 
fairly  rapid  (taking  about 
180  seconds  to  produce  a 
three-color  printout).  But 
there's  a  catch. 
First,  don't  be  misled  by 


special  coated  paper  need- 
ed by  the  printer  isn't  inex- 
pensive, either. 

The  printer  has  a  resolu- 
tion of  only  203  dots  per 
inch  (dpi).  A  fax  at  fine  res- 
olution is  200  dpi,  so  if 
you've  ever  seen  a  fax, 
you've  seen  the  kind  of  jag- 
gies  the  Primera  produces. 


The  Primera  color  printer  from  Fargo  Electronics  Ijnngs  color 
thermal  printing  into  an  affordable  price  range. 


the  term  three-color  printing. 
The  printer  can  produce  vir- 
tually any  color  by  overprint- 
ing. First,  it  prints  yeliow, 
then  magenta,  and  then  cy- 
an. By  printing  these  colors 
on  top  of  one  another,  the 
Primera  can  produce 
shades  of  gray  and  a  rich 
palette  of  colors.  You  have 
the  option  of  purchasing  a 
four-color  ribbon  that'll  allow 
you  to  add  true  black  to  the 
palette  (the  black  produced 
by  the  three-color  ribbon  is 
actually  a  dark  bluish  brown 
that's  very  close  to  black), 

Although  the  printer's  inex- 
pensive, the  supplies  aren't. 
For  S45.00  you  can  pur- 
chase either  a  three-color  rib- 
bon that  yields  115  pages 
or  a  four-color  ribbon  that 
yields  80  pages.  Fargo  also 
offers  a  monochrome 
(black)  ribbon  for  $39.95 
that'll  print  400  pages.  The 


The  color  registration  {color 
alignment)  of  the  printouts 
was  very  good,  and  when  I 
used  extremely  smooth,  coat- 
ed paper  (like  the  sample 
sheets  provided  with  the 
printer)  or  acetate  sheets, 
my  printouts  had  dense,  sol- 
id colors  (the  waxy  thermal 
transfer  material  left  a 
sheen,  mal<ing  the  printouts 
look  vaguely  photographic). 
But  when  I  used  common 
photocopy  paper,  my  print- 
outs were  spotty  and 
plagued  by  dropouts  where 
one  or  all  of  the  colors 
didn't  print. 

If  all  you're  doing  is  proof- 
ing pictures  and  all  you 
need  is  an  FPO  (For  Posi- 
tion Only)  graphic,  the 
Primera  seems  tailor-made 
for  this  purpose,  if  you  want 
art-quality  printouts  similar 
to  those  produced  by  a  Tek- 
tronix printer  set  at  a  low  res- 


olution, make  sure  you  have 
some  very  smooth  paper  on 
hand.  However,  for  far  less 
than  the  cost  of  this  thermal 
printer,  you  could  purchase 
a  color  ink-jet  printer  with 
300-dpi  resolution  (or  high- 
er), and  for  most  appiica- 
tions  that  would  be  the  pre- 
ferred course  ol  action. 

(ROBERT  BIXBY 


Fargo  Elecironics 

(800)  327-4622 

(612)  941-9470 

$995 

Circle  Header  Service  Number  449 

NEC  READY  425 

If  you're  looking  for  NEC  qual- 
ity and  engineering  but  are 
new  to  computing  and  don't 
have  elaborate  plans  for  ex- 
panding a  computer,  take  a 
look  at  the  NEC  Ready  425, 

The  name  Ready  says  it 
all.  Once  you've  unpacked 
the  system  and  made  the 
necessary  connections,  it's 
ready  to  go.  That's  because 
NEC  has  preconfigured  it 
and  preinstalled  all  the  soft- 
ware that  comes  with  it.  If 
you  haven't  set  up  a  comput- 
er before,  don't  worry  NEC 
inciudes  a  quick-setup 
sheet  and  a  video  to  walk 
you  through  the  steps. 
Once  the  system's  up  and 
running,  you'll  find  an  online 
tutorial  explaining  how  to 
use  your  Ready.  NEC  pro- 
vides manuals  for  DOS  and 
Windows  in  addition  to  the 
Ready's  first-rate  user's  man- 
ual, v/hich  is  thorough,  well 
illustrated,  and  well  written. 
If  you  should  run  into  troub- 
le that  you  can't  remedy  your- 
self, just  dial  up  NEC's 
ReadyRemote  service, 
through  which  NEC  techni- 
cians can  check  out  your  sys- 
tem and  help  you  come  up 
with  a  solution. 

The  Ready  comes  with 
plenty  of  software,  leaving 
you  ready  to  create  a  data- 
base, a  spreadsheet,  or  a 


chart:  write  reports;  avoid  vi- 
ruses; send  a  fax;  download 
a  file:  and  use  your  Ready 
for  countless  other  comput- 
ing activities.  In  addition  to 
MS-DOS  and  Windows  3.1, 
you  get  PFS:WindowWorks, 
Quicken  for  Windows,  and 
WinFax  UltraLITE. 

The  standard  hardware 
leaves  you  ready  to  handle 
most  computing  challenges. 
You  get  SVa-inch  and  5'/i- 
inch  high-density  floppy 
drives,  a  170fvlB  3'/s-inch 
IDE  hard  drive,  a  built-in  fax/ 
data  modem  (2400  bps  for 
data,  9600  bps  for  fax  trans- 
mission, and  4800  bps  for 
fax  reception),  and  a  moni- 
tor capable  of  1024  x  768 
pixels  with  256  colors,  Be- 
cause the  PS/2  mouse  port, 
keyboard  port,  parallel  port, 
serial  port,  and  video  adapt- 
er are  all  built  into  the  moth- 
erboard, all  three  of  the  sys- 
tem's full-length  16-bit  slots 
are  available  for  any  boards 
you  might  wish  to  add.  The 
system  comes  with  4fVIB  of 
RAM,  upgradable  to  64MB 
using  SIMMs.  You  also  get 
1MB  of  video  RAM  for  the 
adapter  and  an  upgradable 
BIOS  from  Phoenix.  Should 
you  ever  decide  to  speed 
up  your  Ready,  NEC  pro- 
vides a  press-pin  socket  for 
an  Intel  overdrive  processor. 

I  like  the  sleek  design 
and  easy  access  (one  sim- 
ple cover  release)  of  the  sys- 
tem box,  the  pieasing  tactile 
and  auditory  feedback  of 
the  keyboard,  and  the  com- 
fortable and  responsive  op- 
eration of  the  NEC  mouse. 
The  Ready  1024  monitor  per- 
formed very  well  on  the 
whole.  Its  .28-mm  dot  pitch 
made  text  easy  to  read  for 
long  periods  of  time,  and 
this  monitor  didn't  give  me 
the  exaggerated  bounce  I 
find  on  so  many  monitors 
when  I  shift  between  text 
and  graphics  modes. 

No  system  is  perfect  for 


every  user,  and  there  are 
some  things  I  missed  in  this 
system.  NEC  didn't  include 
a  reset  button,  you  have  to 
request  and  pay  shipping 
and  handling  for  floppy  cop- 
ies of  the  software,  and 
there  are  no  available  bays 
for  adding  drives.  If  you 
want  a  CD-ROM  drive,  a 
tape  drive,  or  some  other 
drive,  you'll  have  to  opt  for 
an  external  version.  Be- 
cause of  the  highly  integrat- 
ed system  board  and  be- 
cause the  fax/data  modem 
doesn't  take  one  of  the  bus 
slots,  the  three  available 
slots  will  be  enough  for 
many  users — but  not  for  all. 
These  problems  can  be 
worked  around  and  won't  af- 
fect the  needs  of  many  COM- 
PUTE readers.  In  fact,  if 
your  computing  needs  ar- 
en't heavy-duty,  you  may 
well  be  ready  for  this  attrac- 
tive and  well-engineered  sys- 
tem from  NEC. 

MIKE  HUDNALL 

NEC 

(800)  NEC-INFO 

$1 ,259  (estimaled  sireet  price) 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  450 


QUICKCOMM 
SPIRIT  II 

No  one  writes  letters  any- 
more. Faxes  and  E-mail  (eiec- 
tronic  mail)  have  become 
the  order  of  the  day. 

QuickComm's  Spirit  II  com- 
bination fax/data  modem  of- 
fers a  low-cost  way  to  make 
your  computer  capable  of 
transmitting  and  receiving 
both  faxes  and  data.  You 
can  quickiy  send  a  letter  to 
fax  machines  or  connect  to 
a  BBS  or  online  network  for 
E-mail, 

There  are  numerous  other 
fax/data  modems  on  the  mar- 
ket, but  QuickComm's  new 
series  offers  the  latest  tech- 
nology at  low  prices.  The  in- 


Presenting  Dinosaur  Adventure.  The  award-winning  fl 
educational  software  that  sends  your  kids  on  a  9 

fascinating  journey  through  information,  images, 
sounds  and  full-motion  video  never  before  available 
without  CD-ROM.  Not  only  will  they  learn  about         ^ 
dinosaurs,  but  archeologicai  digs,  early  mammals,    ^ 
food  chains,  ancient  plants,  earth  geology  and  more. 
w,  To  say  nothing  of  improving  their  reading,  language  fl 
and  computer  skills.  And  you'll  learn  that  dinosaurs 
aren't  just  huge,  pea-brained  beasts.  They  can  be  the 
best  teachers  your  kids  ever  had.  To  find  Dinosaur    9 
Adventure,  visit  Comp  USA,  Computer  City,  Egghead, 
Electronic  Boutique,  Software 
Etc.,  Waldensoftware 
or  other  fine  stores. 
To  order  at  the 
special  price  of 
534.95,  a  ^15.00 
savings,  call  us 
direct  at  the 
number  below. 
Every  40th  caller 
gets  a  copy  free! 

^Knowledge     ^^^B^^^^^F''^        fl 
la  Adventure"      ^^^^H^^B^^       ,J 


1-800-4My- DINO 


_,TM 


REVIEWS 


ternal  and  external  Spirit  II 
modems  are  priced  at  $229 
and  $249,  respectively. 
They  include  V.42  and  MNP 
2-4  error  correction  proto- 
cols and  V.42bis  and  MNP 
5  compression  protocols. 

MNP  stands  for  Micro- 
corn  Networking  Protocol.  It 
refers  to  standard  protocol 
methiods  used  by  manufac- 
turers of  modems  in  provid- 
ing error-free  transfer  of  da- 
ta from  one  computer  to  an- 
otfier.  V,42bis  is  a  similar  pro- 
tocol set  by  the  CCITT  organ- 
ization. These  protocols  en- 
sure the  fastest,  most  effi- 
cient transfer  speeds  possi- 
ble with  the  widest  range  of 
other  faxes  and  nnodems. 

I  tried  the  external  version 
of  the  Spirit.  As  long  as 
there's  a  serial  port  availa- 
ble, hardware  installation  con- 
sists of  simply  connecting 
the  fax/data  modem  to  the 
computer  with  the  supplied 
cable,  plugging  the  phone 
line  into  the  standard  modu- 
lar connector  on  the  Spirit  II, 
and  attaching  the  unit's  pow- 
er supply.  The  documenta- 
tion is  clear,  and  phone  sup- 
port is  available. 

Three  programs  are  includ- 
ed with  the  Spirit  II— the 
Qmodem  data  communica- 
tions software  and  both  DosF- 
ax  Lite  and  WinFax  Lite. 
While  all  three  programs 
work  well,  the  Spirit  II  also 
works  with  other  communica- 
tions and  fax  programs.  If 
you  already  have  modem 
software  installed,  you  can 
continue  using  the  program 
you're  familiar  with  white  still 
taking  advantage  of  the  Spir- 
it ll's  new  technology. 

In  fact,  after  experiment- 
ing with  the  supplied  pro- 
grams here,  that's  exactly 
what  I  did.  My  regular  com- 
munications software — Pro- 
YAM — worked  just  fine,  as 
did  the  many  scripts  pro- 
grammed in  over  the  years. 

Now  the  good  part— the 

108        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


Hayes-compatible  9600-bps 
modem  {circa  1990)  that  I  re- 
placed with  the  Spirit  II  for 
this  review  is  in  use  every 
day  for  data  transfers.  The 
Spirit  II,  at  the  same  bps 
rates,  was  markedly  faster  in 
both  uploading  and  down- 
loading files.  The  bottom 
line:  Modem  technology  has 
improved  a  lot  in  the  past 
three  years,  and  the  Spirit  li 
gives  you  the  advantage  of 
this  improvement  at  a  good 
price. 

But  what  about  faxes? 
That's  the  other  side  of  this 
dual-purpose  device — send- 
ing and  receiving  faxes — 
and  the  Spirit  II  performs 
well.  The  included  fax  soft- 
ware does  that  for  you.  If 
you  want  a  fax  program 
with  more  features,  there's 
an  upgrade  offer  enclosed 
for  either  DosFax  PRO  or  Win- 
Fax PRO, 

For  considerably  less 
than  the  price  of  a  separate 
high-speed  modem  and  fax 
machine,  you  can  fill  both 
functions  by  installing  a  Spir- 
t  II  fax/data  modem.  In  fact, 
f  you  were  buying  it  only  for 
ts  modem  capabilities,  it 
would  still  be  a  good  deal. 

RALPH  ROBERTS 

QuiokComnn 

(800)  551-6166 

(214)  732-0255 

$229— internal 

$249— external 

Circle  Reader  Service  Number  451 

VIRTUAL  PILOT 

Your  computer  setup  rivals 
the  best  Air  Force  flight  sim- 
ulators. You've  got  a  set  of 
rudder  pedals  down  next  to 
your  power  strip,  a  throttle 
control  opposite  your 
mouse,  and  a  joystick  with 
more  buttons  than  the  one 
in  a  real  F-18.  For  many 
games  it's  the  ultimate  in  re- 
alism, but  when  you  go  to 
fly  a  Cessna  or  a  747,  the 
combat-optimized  joystick 


doesn't  exactly  heighten  the 
feeling  of  realism. 

Enter  CH  Products'  Virtual 
Pilot,  an  authentic  flight 
yoke  controller.  For  you 
nonpilots  out  there,  a  yoke 
is  the  double-handled  de- 
vice resembling  a  steering 
wheel  that  you  find  in  most 
private  planes  and  commer- 
cial jetliners.  To  bank  right 
or  left,  you  simply  turn  the 
yoke  in  that  direction.  To 
dive,  push  the  yoke  forv/ard, 
and  to  puli  up,  pull  the  yoke 
toward  you. 

The  Virtual  Pilot  is  a 
large,  cream-colored  box 
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puter desk  or  table.  A  full- 
size  control  yoke  protrudes 
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tons on  the  front  of  the  yoke 
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tain full  control.  The  yoke  sim- 
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tick and  can  be  used  for  en- 
gine power  control  in  most 
simulations.  The  Virtual  Pilot 
worked  fine  when  plugged 


in  with  my  ThrustMaster  rud- 
der pedals,  making  for  an  ul- 
trarealistic  flight  simulation 
control  environment. 

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lot compare  to  a  joystick?  It 
certainly  makes  Microsoft 
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Logic  ATP  give  a  truer  flight 
experience.  Most  combat 
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Eagle  III.  are  easier  to  con- 
trol with  my  CH  FiightStick 
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movements  are  needed  in 
combat  sIms.  A  notable  ex- 
ception is  LucasArts'  X- 
Wing,  which  seems  to  lend  it- 
self well  to  yoke  control,  es- 
pecially in  the  training  scenar- 
ios, If  you  play  driving 
games  on  your  PC,  you'll 
love  Virtual  Pilot!  The  driving 
experience  is  much  more  re- 
alistic when  you  can  steer 
by  turning  a  yoke — there's 
just  something  about  a  joy- 
stick-controlled Porsche 
that  doesn't  cut  it. 

An  updated  version.  Virtu- 
al Pilot  Pro,  will  add  a  coolie 
hat  for  view  control. 

DENNY  ATKIN 


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COMPUTER  REPAIR 


AUTHORIZED  COMPUTER  REPAIRS:  C64/I28, 
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eomputers.  Quick  ser\  ice-30  day  wamuitv 
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CD-ROM 


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CATALOG  HAS.  ENCYCLCPED1AS  •  GAMES  • 

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EDUCATION 


In  CompLitcr  Sciences 


•  irrfiepaiQecresToq'a-^^A-tn  all  cffl/sKtwme  study 

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•  MS  coulSK  ndtjtJE  Software  EnginrtTtig,  AKficial  IntelSgerra 
and  r!u<ti  more. 

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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  3S3 


COMPUTE  Classified  is  a  law-cost  way  to  tell 
over  275,000  microcotnpuler  owners  about 
your  produc!  or  service. 
Additional  Information,  Please  read  carefully. 

Rates:  S-4G  ce'  ir^s.  ^/"imun  □!  foj'  i,nes  Any  or  a'i  o'  trc- 
iirst  line  sel  in  capital  letters  ai  no  cfiarge.  Add  SI5  per 
fine  for  tjo'd  lace  words,  or  S50  lor  the  entire  ad  sel  m  bold- 
lace  (any  number  cl  lines,) 

Temis:  Prepayment  is  required.  We  aeceol  ctiecks,  mon- 
ey orccfs,  VISA,  or  t/asierCarfl 

General  information:  Aoverivsers  uang  post  olfice  boK  rrum- 

Der  in  :neir  aos  nnust  supply  permanent  address  and 
isieptiOTie  number  Orders  will  not  be  acknowledged.  Ad 
wil  appear  in  next  available  issue  alter  receipt, 

CLASSIFIED  DISPLAY  RCTES 

Class! ec  bisp'ay  ads  m.easufe  Z^Ia"  wide  and  are  priceci 
accordina  lo  neight,  1"=  S285;  1 V  =  S420.  r=  SS50 

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Call  Msria  Iklanasen.  Class.lied  Ivtanager,  COMPUTE.  1 
WMds  Ct,.  Huntington,  NY  11743.  a;  51B-757-9562, 


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PC,  MAC,  Amiga  ■  S250  includes,  LCD  gteses. 
Software,  inieiface.  KVR  ■  RS232,  Or  para'lel  -  accepts 
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3D  VIDEO 

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Westerns,  Mais  (jtaptics  V:rtual  WorWs  '6  Vol,  Doajtnerlary) 

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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  358 


MISCELLANEOUS 


T-Shirts— The  UHImate  Soft-Wear! 

Many  sayings,  piciures,  cotors,       .  •  When  all  else 
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Blues  •  The  more  people  I  meet,  the  more  [  liKe  my 
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FITS  MOST  LOCKS 

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118 


CLASSIFIEDS 


MISCELLANEOUS 


SOFTWARE 


(m^mimi 


"For  fhe  Serious  CD  Collector" 


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SOFTWARE 


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modules.  Powerful  and  easily  used!  Rated  #1 
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EDUCATION 


I  Be  a  computer 
I  repair  expert! 


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Circle  Reader  Service  Number  353 


119 


NEWS  BITS 


Robert  Bixby 


REST  AND 
RELAXATION 


New  software 

and  hardware  for 

computer 

lovers  everywtiere 


Time  to  recover  from  back-to- 
back  compuhypefests — COM- 
DEX in  Atlanta  and  CES  in  Ctii- 
cago.  For  me,  COMDEX  was 
boring.  Favorite  quote:  "The 
problem  withi  COMDEX  isn't 
so  much  infoglut  as  substance 
anorexia."  Said  by:  me. 

Among  ttie  brigtit  lights 
were  object-oriented  paint  pro- 
grams from  Micrografx  (the  lat- 
est version  of  COMPUTE 
Cfioice  Award  winner  Picture 
Publisher)  and  Fractal  Design 
(an  add-on  to  COMPUTE 
Choice  Award  winner  Fractal 
Design  Painter  called  Painter/ 
X2).  These  paint  programs  al- 
low you  to  paint  or  import  ob- 
jects on  layers  independent  of 
the  painting  surface. 

Also  at  COMDEX  I  saw  an 
up-to-the-minute  release  of  Mi- 
crografx Designer  with  a 
sharp  new  interface  and  tons 
of  new  capabilities,  and  a  dye- 
sublimation  add-on  for  the 
Primera  color  printer  that  al- 
lows the  printer  to  create  pho- 
tographic-quality color  print- 
outs on  special  coated  paper. 
The  add-on  is  only  $249.95 
(making  the  final  cost  of  the 
printer  just  $1 ,244.95).  But  get 
ready  for  a  Kodak  moment. 
The  special  paper  and  "rib- 
bon" for  dye  sublimation  print- 
ing boost  the  $0.45  cost  of  an 
ordinary  Primera  printout  to 
$3.00  per  page. 

CES,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  not  boring.  But  it  was  re- 
ally, really,  really,  really  loud. 
Ordinarily,  you  can  maintain 
your  hearing  at  CES  through 
the  simple  expedient  of  avoid- 
ing the  cardiac  arrhythmia- 
inducing  car  stereo  area,  but 
ever  since  sound  moved  to 
the  PC,  the  CES  floor  has  be- 
come a  kind  of  blastfest,  be- 
tween the  karaoke  vendors, 
rock  bands,  and  computer 
game  sound  effects.  Each  vol- 
ume control  has  to  be  turned 

120        COMPUTE    SEPTEMBER  1993 


to  1 1  to  overwhelm  the  noise 
pollution  from  the  next  booth. 

Hot  stuff?  Lots.  Like  Micro- 
soft's new  Flight  Simulator, 
which  brings  greater  realism 
to  the  landscape,  and  Space 
Simulator,  which  lets  you  fly  to 
distant  galaxies — even  gener- 
ating planets  to  form  undiscov- 
ered solar  systems.  Microsoft 
is  also  releasing  a  collection  of 
nostalgia  arcade  games  for 
Windows,  including  Asteroids, 
Missile  Command,  Centipede, 
and  (a  game  I  never  thought 
Vi'ould  make  it  to  the  PC)  Tem- 
pest. These  games  feature  ear- 
ly-eighties-style  graphics  that 
will  surely  bring  a  tear  to  the 
eye  of  every  erstwhile  quarter- 
pumping  arcade  junkie.  Multi- 
media Golf  features  Pro  Notes 
from  COMPUTE  Books'  Pro- 
Links:  The  Official  Guide  to 
Links  and  Microsoft  Golfoy  for- 
mer COMPUTE  editor  Peter 
Scisco. 

Great  parties:  Dynamix 
chose  the  Chicago  Museum 
of  Science  and  Industry 
(home  port  of  the  only  WWII 
German  U-boat  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere)  to  showcase  Ac- 
es over  Europe  and  Graue 
Wolfe,  its  new  convoy-sinking 
sub  Sim.  Knowledge  Adven- 
ture hired  the  Shedd  Aquari- 
um for  the  announcement  of 
its  latest  how-the-heck-did- 
they-do-it  floppy-based  multi- 
media product,  Undersea  Ad- 
venture. Each  introduction  par- 
ty had  excellent  food.  And 
drink.  The  work  of  a  journalist 
is  tough,  but  somebody  has  to 
do  it. 

IBM  is  bundling  a  raft  of  Dis- 
ney products  with  its  latest  PS/ 
1  series  of  computers.  The 
computer  giant  will  also  be  put- 
ting a  lot  of  effort  into  periph- 
erals designed  to  be  easy  to 
install  on  any  machine  (not 
just  IBM  machines).  Watch  for 
Windsurfer,  an  Mwave-based 
do-it-all  card  with  sound,  fax- 
ing, voice  mail,  and  so  on. 

Maxis  will  be  releasing 
SimCity  2000,  an  upgrade  to 


its  addictive  SimCiy  game, 
that  allows  you  to  import  your 
"SimCity  1 .0"  cities  for  further 
development.  Complete  with 
contour  mapping  (and  lots  of 
terraforming  tools),  SimCity 
2000's  angled  view  makes 
your  cities  stand  out  in  three  di- 
mensions. New  convenience 
features  abound. 

MECC  is  releasing  a  busi- 
ness simulator,  DinoPark  Ty- 
coon, for  budding  entrepre- 
neurs. It  lets  you  develop  your 
own  Jurassic  Park-like  theme 
park  while  coping  with  budg- 
ets, crowd  appeal,  and  ecolo- 
gy. Davidson  is  releasing  Al- 
geBlaster  and  a  very  exciting 
upgrade  to  MathBlaster,  plus 
Kid  CAD,  a  three-dimensional 
architecture  program  special- 
ly designed  for  children.  The 
tlearning  Company  is  adding 
Math  Rabbit  and  a  new  Read- 
er Rabbit  for  the  prereader 
called  Reader  Rabbit's  Ready 
for  Letters,  plus  a  new  adven- 
ture called  Treasure  Math- 
Storm.  The  competition  is  heat- 
ing up  nicely  in  educational 
software,  yielding  better,  deep- 
er, richer  products  across  the 
board.  What  a  great  time  to  be 
small! 

Sega  and  AT&T  are  collab- 
orating on  an  online  game-play- 
ing network.  Details  were 
sketchy,  but  this  could  give  Se- 
ga a  definite  edge  in  the 
videogame-machine  war. 

Whatever  your  interests, 
your  favorite  games  will  prob- 
ably appear  in  multimedia  for- 
mat on  CD-ROM  and  on  much- 
hyped  3D0  (if  software  sup- 
port is  any  predictor  of  suc- 
cess, 3D0  may  already  be 
over  the  top).  Virtually  every- 
thing is  being  upgraded  to 
multimedia  and  making  use  of 
the  huge  capacity  of  CD- 
ROM,  which  looks  like  the  dis- 
tribution medium  of  choice. 

And  to  all  the  manufactur- 
ers t  left  out,  watch  for  upcom- 
ing reviews.  Despite  the  cold 
Lake  Michigan  wind,  it  was  a 
hot  time  in  Chicago.  O 


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